The Witch's Madness
by BabySealLover
Summary: Luna has forgotten some important details about the night that brought her to Death City, and just about everything else in her life. She can't seem to remember who she really is or where she comes from. After taking refuge at Death Academy, she begins to doubt her need to know the truth. But without it, she'll never be able to stop the madness from taking over her soul. *CANCELED*
1. Prologue

**Hello, everyone! Welcome to the prologue of my new Soul Eater fanfiction, The Witch's Madness. This is an idea I had recently, and kinda just decided to go with it and see where it led. I don't even know why I'm doing this, since I'm still trying to work on my Naruto fanfiction, but I just... got an itching to write this. So, here's a start!**

 **Anyway, it's basically about this girl who has lost most of her past memories and her quest to get them back. Along the way, she joins Death Academy and forges relationships with characters, such as Maka and Soul... probably the other kids as well. Stein is also going to play an important role in the story, because Stein is just really awesome and I adore his insanity.**

 **So... this is rated Teen... first part of this chapter is a little violent and possibly disturbing. I don't think it's all that graphic. But... just warning everybody ahead of time, just in case.**

 **I hope you all enjoy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

Prologue

Descending into madness wasn't quite as frightening and painful as she had thought it would be. Gruesome pictures of death seeped into her mind, of herself taking something, _everything and everyone_ , apart with her weapon and chopping them up into pieces. She could already almost taste their screams mixed with the blood staining her blade. It should have terrified her; but all she could do was laugh.

Not only, in that moment, did she find the idea of dismemberment disturbingly humorous, but she had the overwhelming impulse to do it herself with her own two hands. If she'd been in her right mind, she never in her wildest dreams would have imagined herself committing such a despicable act. But tonight, she thought on it with a smile and a chuckle on her lips.

 _Kill... dismember... destroy..._

Biting down on her lip until she tasted blood, she gripped a fistful of her hair between her fingers and burst into hysterical laughter in the middle of the otherwise quiet street. Incidentally, if asked, she wouldn't have even realized that she was standing in the street, at all. Although self-aware enough, she had no inclination to pay attention to her surroundings or anything happening outside the realm of her own mind.

Somewhere deep within her, she knew that there was no reason for it. She had nowhere to go. She was alone.

 _Well... not_ completely _alone,_ she thought to herself, her spine tingling with excitement and intrigue when she heard a noise down the nearest alleyway.

Her vision was slightly blurry and it was difficult for her to walk normally, but in her current state, she paid the feeling no heed. With a sway in her step, she approached the dark alleyway and continued forward until she could see two figures in the darkness. She licked her lips as she heard the familiar crunching and snapping of a fresh soul being devoured.

Suddenly, with wild eyes, the Kishin whirled around and moved in front of the soulless human, looking like a guilty child caught in the act.

"Tasty soul, Mr. Kishin?" she asked heavily, moving closer to the Kishin.

His mouth stretching out into a grin, the Kishin replied in a raspy tone, "Not as tasty as yours will be!"

The Kishin lunged at her with full force, going directly for the kill. But the instant that he made his move, her fighting instincts turned on, and she maneuvered out of the way at the last second. The Kishin had been unprepared for such a reaction, and during the few seconds he remained stunned, she grabbed him and picked him up by the head. Laughing maniacally, she turned her free hand into part of a scythe and said, "Night night, Mr Kishin."

He never had the chance to scream before she brought down her scythe and sliced into the side of his head. Blood spurted everywhere; but she didn't mind. In fact, she _relished_ the moment. As she proceeded to slice the Kishin into pieces, she hummed happily to herself. And after she was all done, she took each of the remaining pieces of the Kishin and arranged them neatly to make him look whole again.

Letting out a satisfied exhale of air, she stood up and reached down to pick up the Kishin's soul. Opening her mouth wide, she popped the Kishin soul into her mouth. She savored its crunchy texture and juicy flavor before swallowing.

Nothing like a good old-fashioned Kishin soul for a midnight snack.

Upon finishing her meal, she turned her scythe back into a hand and left the dismembered Kishin and the dead human behind in the alley.

As she walked the deserted city streets, her legs started to feel heavier and she began to feel sleepy. Her blurred eyesight continued to worsen as she struggled to stay on her feet. No longer did any visions of dismemberment or death plague her mind. She only felt emptiness and exhaustion.

Slowly, she raised her head and gazed up with squinted eyes at the crescent moon's face in the sky. She watched absently as his mouth seeped red blood.

Her breathing became heavy. "Mother," she whispered, "I don't... feel like myself..."

Then, her eyes drifted shut and her knees gave out beneath her. The last memory she had was of hitting the pavement. There was no pain, as her entire body had grown numb.

* * *

Someone was speaking.

Wait, no. There was more than one.

"Soul, help me out, here! I don't know if I'm doing these bandages right."

"Maka, come on. How hard is it?"

"Just help me! I don't want to do it wrong!"

"Ugh, Maka... You just... Ah, forget it. Let me do it."

"Wait! I think she's coming to!"

The girl's head was pounding and she felt extremely nauseated. As she slowly opened her eyes, she had to blink several times to get her vision to come into focus. It was then that she realized that she was lying down in a place she didn't recognize, and hovering over her were two strangers. One was a childlike brownish blonde-haired girl with pigtails, and the other was a white-haired boy with a headband.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her tongue felt heavy. "W-what...?"

"It's okay, now," Pigtails said, reaching out and dabbing at her forehead with a washcloth. "You're safe here. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Ignoring Pigtails, the girl pushed the washcloth away and tried to sit up.

"Hey!" Pigtails exclaimed, pushing her down. "Don't do that. You're still hurt. It's okay, really. We aren't going to hurt you."

Swallowing roughly, she forced words out of her mouth. "I don't... remember what happened..."

"We found you collapsed out on the street covered in blood last night," the boy said in a deep voice.

 _Blood...?_

"It's all right," Pigtails said with a smile. "You just woke up, so you don't need to worry about remembering anything, yet. Here. You've got some pretty bad cuts and bruises, so he'll bandage you up. I'm going to get some water. You need to drink something."

While Pigtails left the room to retrieve some water, the girl allowed the white-haired boy to bandage her wounds. Neither of them spoke; she just tried to focus on something else while he handled her sore limbs.

She was lying in a bed, in one of the two's bedrooms, no doubt. Based on the pinkish color scheme, she guessed that it was probably the girl's room. For the most part, the room was pretty ordinary, with a dresser and a closet, and a few personal possessions. Beside the bed was a huge window that looked out over what appeared to be a city. By the position of the sun outside, she thought that it must have been around mid-morning sometime.

A few minutes later, Pigtails returned to the room with a glass in her hand. "Here you go," she said, handing it to the girl in front of her. Then, turning her head to the boy, she said, "Hey, lift her head up."

He did as ordered, and the girl took the glass, murmuring a quiet thank you before putting the glass to her lips. "Don't drink it all at once, now," Pigtails said, smiling. However, the girl was far too thirsty to heed those words, and as the first sip of smooth, cold water slid down her throat, she couldn't resist downing the rest of the glass in about five seconds.

Pigtails stared at her for a moment, but then laughed as she took the glass back. "Wow, you must have been thirsty!"

The girl nodded, but then regretted it as she put a hand to her throbbing forehead. In response, the boy gently set her head back on the pillow.

"Not feeling too well, huh?" the boy murmured.

"That's fine," Pigtails said in a friendly tone. "Really, you don't have to worry about a thing. You can rest right here until you feel better!"

The girl glanced up at Pigtails questioningly. "But... where's here?"

"This is our house!" Pigtails replied.

"No, no..." the girl whispered, carefully lifting an arm and pointing to the window. "I mean... where's _here_? Out there, I mean. And who... are you guys?"

"Oh," Pigtails said. "Well, this is Death City. I'm Maka, and this here is Soul. What's your name?"

The girl's breath caught in her throat when she realized that she had no idea where Death City was or how she had come to be here. Her mind was clouded with hazy discomfort and shrouded memories. And although she lay in a soft, warm bed, with two people who seemed to have been kind enough to take her in and dress her wounds, she suddenly felt very afraid.

But upon hearing Maka's question, she was able to form one word in her mind, and it came out of her mouth in a hoarse, gravelly tone. "Luna. I'm... Luna."


	2. The Girl Called Luna

**Hi, people! Here I am with the official chapter 1 of The Witch's Madness, in which Maka Albarn speaks with Lord Death about this new and strange girl who knows little more than her first name, and they agree to have Lord Death meet her the next day. This chapter probably isn't extraordinarily exciting, but I'm sure it'll pick up sometime soon!**

 **Hope you enjoy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

The Girl Called Luna

Maka Albarn left Soul and the strange girl who called herself Luna alone together in her room and retreated into the bathroom. Upon closing the door, she turned the lock to decrease her chances of being disturbed. Taking a deep breath, she faced the mirror in front of her and wrote with her finger, _42-42-564_.

A second later, a man with a skull mask and a black cloak appeared in the mirror. It was none other than the head of DWMA (Death Weapon Meister Academy), the Grim Reaper himself, Lord Death. "Maka, what a pleasant surprise!" he greeted happily.

Maka instantly put a finger to her lips. "Shhh... please be quiet, Lord Death. This is something really important."

Lord Death's voice became quieter and much more serious. "What is it?"

Before Maka was able to begin recounting her memory of the last several hours, a voice interrupted her. "Is that my Maka? Oh, can I say hi?" Spirit Albarn suddenly appeared in the mirror at Lord Death side and waved. "Hi, my beautiful daughter!"

Maka sighed and shook her head in disapproval. "Hi, Dad..." she said begrudgingly. "Now, can I please have a moment alone with Lord Death?"

Spirit looked as if he'd been karate chopped in the face, and his bottom lip jutted out as he lowered his head in misery. "My darling Maka doesn't want me," he lamented, slowly sinking down below the mirror.

"Oh, Spirit, relax," Lord Death said. "Maka and I just need to have a quick conversation. Why don't you wait outside and I'll call you back in when we're done talking? Is that all right, Maka?"

"Yeah, sure," she said sourly.

 _Anything to get him to leave._

"All right," Spirit said with a sigh, standing up and walking away. With that pouty lip still on his face, he turned his head around and said, "I love you, Maka."

Although Maka was still irritated at him and was in a hurry to get him out of the way, she still managed to grant Spirit a tiny smile before he left. Despite all his flaws, when he said he loved her, she knew he meant it. "I love you too."

At those words, a huge grin broke out on Spirit's face and he called out, "I'll see you soon, Maka!" and left the Death Room with his cheerful attitude rejuvenated.

Letting out another sigh, but this time of relief, Maka turned her attention to Lord Death. "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked calmly.

"It's about something that happened last night," she said. "Soul and I found someone collapsed out on the street."

Lord Death cocked his head. "Is that so?"

Maka nodded. "She was all cut up and bruised... and covered in blood. So we brought her in the house and cleaned her up. She just woke up a little bit ago. And I wanted to make sure you knew about this as soon as possible."

"Hmmm..." Lord Death said thoughtfully. "So, she's awakened? Then, you've spoken to her?"

"Yes."

"What did she tell you?"

"Not much," Maka admitted. "Actually, the only thing she remembers is her name. Luna. But that's it."

"Hmm... sounds serious," Lord Death said. "Is there anything else that you've been able to determine about her so far? Anything at all?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "I'm not sure. One thing I can say for sure is that she has an extremely powerful soul wavelength. Maybe she's one of us? I don't know. The other thing is... nearby, Soul and I discovered something kind of unnerving."

When she held off on elaborating further, Lord Death prompted, "And that was...?"

"A soulless Kishin..." she finally told him. "And a human. Both of them were lying dead in an alley way. Except... the Kishin..." She grimaced as she remembered the awful sight. "The Kishin was all chopped up into little pieces."

Lord Death was silent for a moment, as if unsure how to react to the news of this event. After some consideration, he said, "That is rather strange."

"I don't know if it could have anything to do with her. She actually just seems scared and confused from what I can tell," Maka said, shaking her head. "But that Kishin's slaughter wasn't the work of any regular meister and weapon. It was the work of a crazy person."

When she uttered the word "crazy", the first image to appear in her mind was that of Professor Franken Stein. In the past, he'd had his own battles with madness and nearly lost himself forever in the process. But ever since the fight with the Kishin Asura and the witch Arachne over a year ago, Professor Stein had gotten a handle on his madness and was doing just fine as far as she could tell. As quickly as she had let it in, pushed his face out of her mind; there was no way he had anything to do with it.

But this girl, Luna, was another story. As little as she had spoken to either Maka or Soul thus far, she seemed to be hardly more than a confused, bewildered girl. Maka found it hard to believe that such a girl could have been the culprit of such a cruel and senseless Kishin killing. But still... that soul wavelength had her feeling a bit uneasy. Even leaving Soul behind with that girl made her worry, if only just a little.

Lord Death spent a few more moments thinking to himself. During that time, he even resorted to pacing slowly back and forth between the mirror's borders. Maka stayed perfectly silent as she waited, not wanting to interrupt his thought process, until he finally halted and turned his head. Lifting a finger toward her, he said, "I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I want you to bring this girl to the Academy so that I can meet her."

"Okay..." Maka said. "What about until then?"

"Well..." he said considerately, "If you're comfortable with it, I suggest you and Soul doing whatever you can to help her recuperate from her injuries for the rest of the day. She'll need to be in condition to be up and about tomorrow morning, of course."

When Maka looked at him uncertainly, he said, "If you're uncomfortable with it, I can-"

"No!" Maka squeaked out. Then, slightly embarrassed, she bowed her head. "Please, Lord Death. It's fine. Soul and I can handle her. Besides, she seems like she might really be a nice girl."

Lord Death nodded. "I appreciate your optimism, Maka! All right, then! I'll leave her in your capable hands, until tomorrow! Call me again if you have any trouble."

"I will!" she said with a smile, clasping her hands behind her back. As she reached out to end the call, Lord Death stopped her.

"Wait, I told Spirit I would let him talk to you after we were done!"

Maka shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to him later."

Lord Death looked a bit uncomfortable as he attempted to protest, but Maka grimaced and said, "I'm sorry, Lord Death, but I have to go. Please tell my dad that I'll catch up with him tomorrow." Maka then quickly ended the call and leaned her back against the door.

 _Sorry, Dad... I'm just not up for it, now._

She had more important things to worry about, like taking care of the injured girl in her house. By now, Luna was probably hungry. Maybe Maka would make her something to eat. It was so long since she and Soul had had company. Luna, in her condition, wasn't necessarily the ideal house guest, but maybe this would end up being a fun experience.

"All right," Maka whispered to herself reassuringly, pumping her fist into the air. Then, with a deep breath, she unlocked the door and left the bathroom to join Soul and the strange new girl who occupied her bed.

* * *

"So..." the boy named Soul said, breaking the awkward silence between Luna and himself. "You don't remember anything, huh?"

Luna rested her eyes on the dresser at the far end of the room. She was glad to look anywhere but at him. "No... I don't." It was just too uncomfortable. For one, she had no idea who she was or where she'd come from. She knew that her name was Luna, but she didn't know who had given her that name. And then suddenly, she was waking up in some stranger's bed with injuries that she couldn't seem to remember getting. She could feel them inside her... memories wanting to resurface and to show themselves to her. But nothing was coming to her, and the harder she tried, the farther away all those memories felt.

Soul let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "This... isn't cool, at all."

Luna's eyes flickered in his direction briefly, and then looked down into her lap, studying her hands. "I'm sorry..." she said quietly. "I'm sorry about all this trouble. You guys may have saved my life, and you seem like nice people... but I can't remember anything."

"Hey, there," he said, grinning and showing off his exceptionally white teeth that vaguely resembled fangs, "No worries. You just woke up. Maybe you just need some time. No reason to feel any pressure."

When Luna saw Soul for the first time, her initial impression had been that he was an insensitive jerk, just by the way he talked and moved. But upon speaking to him directly and listening to him reassure her that everything was going to be okay, she started to relax a little bit. From where she sat, she could see the outline of his soul. And it was sorta... spiky... but it emitted a strong yet calming wavelength that made Luna rethink her first judgment. Maybe he was a nicer guy than she'd thought.

There was a soft knock on the door. When it opened, the girl named Maka popped her head in with a smile on her face. "Everything okay, guys?"

"We're fine," Soul said indifferently.

Stepping into the room with a plate in her hands, Maka came toward Luna. "I wasn't sure what you liked to eat, but I figured you should have something. So I made you an omelet!" She held out the plate and set it in front of Luna, who looked down at the omelet and suddenly noticed that she was indeed extremely hungry. It also excited her to remember upon eying the omelet that she'd eaten them before, and she enjoyed them.

Luna was about to dig in, but Maka gave her a hard look. "Now, you'd better not eat this as fast as you drank that water I gave you. You don't want to get sick."

Luna nodded in agreement, even though she was so hungry that she couldn't have cared less if she got sick or not. She still knew that Maka was right.

As she ate her omelet, as slowly as she could without torturing herself, Soul asked Maka, "So, did you talk to him?"

Maka nodded. "Yeah, I did. He wants to meet Luna tomorrow."

Luna raised her head and stared up at both of them suspiciously. "Who wants to meet me?"

"The headmaster of our school, the DWMA," Soul told her.

"Why?" Luna asked, not having a clue as to why the headmaster of anyone's school wanted to have anything to do with her.

Maka rubbed the back of her hair, smiling sheepishly. "Well... the DWMA is an academy for young weapons and meisters. Do you know what they are?"

 _Weapons and meisters?_

Luna knew what they were. Weapons were human beings who had the power to change into tools of destruction at the hands of their meisters... the ones who wielded them. But for that to happen, their soul wavelengths had to match properly. Luna knew that something had seemed abnormal about these two. So... Maka and Soul weren't just regular individuals after all. They were weapon and meister.

"Yes," Luna replied to Maka's question honestly. "I know about them."

"You do?" Maka said excitedly. "So you remember something?"

Luna shook her head. "I don't know... I just... know those two words from somewhere."  
Maka cocked her head. "Do you think maybe you're one of us?"

Luna once again shook her head. "I don't think I'd know unless I tried." If she had been a weapon or a meister at one point, she couldn't remember it at all. She only knew for sure that she had known they existed.

"What about souls?" Maka asked. "Can you see souls?"

"I can," Luna said, making note of Maka's tiny sphere-shaped soul. It was a strong and spirited one, no doubt, but it was the living representation of youth and a lack of experience. Still, Luna sensed that Maka had a strong will about her.

Soul folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe she's a meister. She can see souls like you, Maka."

"Maybe..." Maka muttered, her eyes cast down in a serious manner.

"So what does all this mean?" Luna asked, slightly fearful.

"I don't know," Maka said. Then she looked up and beamed. "But don't worry. Tomorrow you get to meet our headmaster, and he'll be able to help."

"How's he going to help?" Luna asked skeptically.

"He's only the most powerful meister of them all!" Maka said proudly. "Maybe he can help figure out where you came from, or even better... recover some of your lost memories."

"Right..." Luna said under her breath. Deep down, she was unsure about Maka's words and feeling incredibly apprehensive about this headmaster of theirs. But with all these injuries, there was nothing she could do... nowhere she could go. In this situation, she had no choice but to go along with them, because it was the only chance she had to find out what happened to her.

With a sigh, Luna agreed. "Okay. I'll go with you tomorrow and meet your headmaster."

"Great!" Maka said. "Rest easy, Luna, okay? Lord Death is the nicest person ever as long as you stay on his good side."

 _Good side? Lord Death?_

Luna swallowed nervously.

Who on Earth _was_ this man?


	3. Lord Death's Offer

**Hello, and welcome to chapter two of The Witch's Madness. This chapter is a lot longer than the previous ones, just because a lot of stuff goes on. We meet Lord Death, Spirit, Blair, and Stein in this chapter. Now, I think that my main three perspectives are going to be Luna's, Maka's, and Stein's... I may write from someone else's perspective if I feel it's important for some reason, but I think those will be the most common three.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

Lord Death's Offer

This academy Maka and Soul described actually looked a lot more like a castle. And it was enormous. Never would Luna have expected a school to look like the house of a king.

Or… maybe king was the wrong word. Maybe a gothic prince or a demon, instead. The entire building was red and black, with huge flaming candles sticking out of the sides, and stark white skull faces plastered on the front. Even at daybreak, it looked like the place of nightmares.

Not that Luna was terrified, per se. She was, admittedly, a little anxious… anxious to meet this Lord Death or whoever he was and she had no idea what to anticipate. She was rather perplexed on account of her situation, having not the slightest idea why any of this was happening in the first place. And of course, her whole body was sore. Luckily Maka had been kind enough to let her use the bath and borrow some clothes so that at least looked decent. She had felt fine yesterday for the most part, but now that she was up and moving, her bruises ached from head to toe. And how had she received such bruises?

If only she knew.

As Soul opened the academy doors and ushered Maka and Luna inside, Maka laughed and patted Luna on the shoulder. The impact from the hand hitting her shoulder made Luna cringe, but Maka didn't notice.

"Nervous?" Maka asked. "Don't be. Lord Death isn't that scary once you get to know him."

 _Riiiight… well, I don't know him, so…_

"Lord Death just wants to meet you and get to know you a little bit," Soul said. "Not only is he headmaster of the academy, but he protects this city. And since you're here all of the sudden without an apparent reason…" He shrugged.

"So, he wants to make sure I'm safe to keep around or what?" Luna asked.

"I guess you could say that," Soul murmured in reply, turning to look absently at the wall.

The three teenagers walked down the silent, empty hallway, their shoes tapping loudly against the floor. Luna shivered. "Is it always this empty?"

"No," Maka answered, shaking her head. "It's just early. It'll pick up once classes start."

Luna felt a little better knowing that people actually went to school at this place. In that case, it couldn't have been all that bad to come here every day. On the other hand, it was a huge facility, and as they made their way down the dark passageways, she could see herself getting lost easily.

Eventually, at the end of a hallway, they came upon a large door.

"This is it," Maka said cheerfully, reaching out to open it.

Luna noticed that the door was marked by a large skull (that seemed to be a theme around here) and a plate that read, "Death Room".

As they entered, Luna held her breath. Immediately upon passing through the door, they reached a tunnel, and when she looked up, Luna realized that there were guillotine blades hovering above them, stretching for as far as she could see.

Eyebrows furrowing lightly as she pushed her fingers through her hair, she asked, "Is this… really necessary?"

Maka's shoulders rose and fell as she laughed. "Lord Death has interesting taste in decoration."

Luna fell behind a little as she followed Maka and Soul down the long corridor of guillotines. The closer she got to this Lord Death person, the more nauseated she felt. In all honesty, she didn't know what it was about him that worried so much. It wasn't like she had anything to hide. But just the idea of meeting someone new, such an authority figure who supposedly had a great deal of power, made her stomach churn.

Finally, they reached the end of the execution hall as Luna had decided to name it, and came into a vast, bright room. She looked up in awe at the light blue ceiling above her that almost looked like the sky, and the fluffy white masses that appeared to be clouds. Scattered around the room, seeming to be floating in midair were several small windows leading who knows where. And directly in the center, on a round dark platform, stood a tall figure in a black cloak. As he turned around to face them, Luna was surprised to see that his face was not a face, but a skull similar to the ones she had seen outside and on his door.

"Welcome, children!" the man (if he was even a man) said ecstatically, in a voice rather unfitting of his appearance.

"Good morning, Lord Death," Maka said, bowing her head politely. "We-"

" _MAAAKAAAAA!_ " a shrill voice rang in Luna's ears, and all of the sudden, some lunatic with red hair jumped out of nowhere and attacked Maka.

"What have you been doing?" he asked frantically, hugging her almost tightly enough to strangle her, Luna imagined. "You were supposed to wait for me yesterday or call me back, or something-"

"We were _busy_ ," Maka insisted, trying to push him off.

"Too busy for me?" the man sobbed, hot tears streaming down his face. "Why, Maka, why?"

Luna inched toward Soul and gave him a questioning look. "Ummm…"

"That's her dad," Soul said with a disapproving sigh. "He's something, huh?"

"Dad, stop it!" Maka complained. "I'm sorry, okay? I had important stuff to deal with." She gestured to Luna with her chin.

Maka's clearly disturbed, overbearing father turned his head toward Luna. Then, with a more serious expression, he reached back to scratch the back of his head. "Oh, yeah? Luna... Lord Death mentioned you yesterday." He grinned and looped an arm around Maka's shoulder. "I'm Maka's dad. I'm sure she's told you all about me by now."

"Not really," Maka said, shoving him off. "Not when you're embarrassing me all the time."

"Okay, that's enough, everyone," Lord Death suddenly cut in. "Let's not forget the reason you came in early today. You don't want to be late for class, do you?"

Maka straightened her shoulders. "No. Sorry, sir. We've brought Luna with us, as you asked."

Up until that moment, Luna had been more or less hiding behind Soul, but she had no choice to step out as soon as she was addressed. "Luna?" Lord Death said in a friendly tone. "Welcome to the Death Room."

Luna smiled shyly and thanked him, although she had said it so softly that she wasn't sure he heard. Then, Lord Death nodded his head and turned his attention to the other three individuals in the room. He cleared his throat. "Would you all mind stepping out so that I can speak with Luna?"

Luna felt her mouth go dry. But… if they all left, she'd be alone with this strange person.

 _Alone…_

She cast Maka a worried glance, but she only smiled at her apologetically as she, her father, and Soul began to take their leave. "You'll be fine," Maka whispered as she walked past.

"Good luck," Soul murmured.

 _Gee, thanks…_

After Luna's only support team had left the room, Lord Death walked over to a chair and sat down. "Well, don't be shy, my dear!" he said reassuringly. "Come sit down!"

Hesitantly, as if waiting for something, although she had no idea what she was waiting for, Luna tip toed over to the chair that was positioned directly across from Lord Death. After a brief examination of the seat, she sat down and folded her hands into her lap. She then deliberately clasped them so that she wouldn't tap her fingers or wring them together.

Lord Death cocked his head. "So… I assume that Maka and Soul have treated you well?"

Luna nodded once. "Yes, sir."

"I wouldn't have expected any less from those two, of course," he said. Then, leaning back in his chair. "So… Luna, is it? Quite a lovely name, if I might say."

With wide eyes, Luna replied, "Oh… thank you…"

"That's your name," he observed. "But… that's the only thing you remember about yourself, it seems?"

Unconsciously, Luna unclasped her hands and reached around the back of her head to ruffle her hair. "Uh… well… I suppose so. I mean… I remember a few other things, but I don't know how relevant they are."

"If you remember them, they must be relevant," he commented.

Luna cast her eyes to the floor. "I do remember… some things about meisters and weapons."

"Some things?" Lord Death repeated, sounding intrigued. "Such as?"

"There's a meister and a weapon," she told him, speaking slowly. "They fight together against Kishin and witches… in order to do that, they have to match soul wavelengths, right?"

"You're quite correct, Luna," he said. "That's… the most basic way to put it, at least. So… does that mean you have the abilities of a meister or weapon?"

Grimacing, Luna said, "I have no idea."

"That's all right," Lord Death murmured.

For several seconds, he remained silent. Luna shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and the longer they sat in the absolute quiet, the more uneasy she became. Still, thus far, she couldn't seem to find any reason to be unnerved by Lord Death. From her perspective at this point, he had been patient and kind, despite his odd appearance. Now, it was mostly her shyness that was causing the most discomfort.

"Hmmm…"

Luna looked at Lord Death in surprise. He lifted his head and looked at her. Or so she thought; she couldn't quite tell since he didn't have pupils or irises.

"This is the DWMA," he began. "I don't know how much Soul and Maka have told you, but the DWMA is short for Death Weapon Meister Academy. It's a school for young meisters and weapons. Here, students learn hone their abilities and increase the strength of their soul wavelength through field training as well as classroom exercises. I wondered… if perhaps you might like to temporarily enroll in the academy."

Caught off guard by the sudden offer, Luna stuttered, "B-but I couldn't... I could never afford something like that-"

"You wouldn't have to," Lord Death said. "This is my special offer to you, as a result of your current situation. You would attend classes like all the other students; tuition won't be an issue."

Luna protested quietly, "But… wouldn't I have to… have a partner…?"

"Right now, I'd say that isn't really important, would you?" he asked. "The purpose of this is to find out where you belong, and hopefully help you recover more memories. Considering you seem to have some intellectual background on the subject of weapons and meisters, I think this is probably a good place to start. If you're okay with it."

Luna wasn't quite sure how to respond. As appreciative as she was for Lord Death's generosity, she wondered how to go about accepting such an offer. "But… where will I live?" she asked.

"Why, with Maka and Soul, of course!" he exclaimed. "I'm sure they won't mind keeping you a bit longer!"

Luna felt her face tense up.

 _Did you… even ask them?_

Lord Death shook his head. "Please, Luna, don't worry about the small stuff! I'll take care of everything if you're willing to give this a shot."

Luna didn't know if she truly wanted to do this or not. But, upon thinking it through, she realized she didn't have much of a choice. As far as she could remember, she had no home to return to. She had no family or friends… only Maka and Soul who she'd met yesterday and this strange headmaster. She couldn't be picky about who she trusted, because she doubted she'd ever survive on her own. If attending some classes here could help her learn about herself in any way, it was her best chance.

Sitting up straight in her chair and swallowing to wet her tongue, she said, "Okay. I'll do it."

Lord Death stood from his chair abruptly. "Wonderful news! You'll love it here, and I'm sure you'll get along with everyone just fine. You'll start tomorrow, bright and early. For the rest of today, I'll have Maka and Soul take you home, since I'm sure that you don't know your way around the city just yet. And besides, it's not safe for such a young girl to walk alone in the city."

* * *

"I can't believe we have _another_ girl living in the house," Soul groaned as he and Maka walked Luna back to their house. "It was bad enough dealing with one; then Blair came along. And now this one."

Luna lowered her head and muttered a soft apology.

Maka glared at him. "Quit being so rude, Soul! You'll make Luna feel bad."

With a snicker, Soul murmured to himself, "Well, I bet she'll at least complain less than Maka. And she's hotter."

" _SOUL!_ " Maka exploded. She could not believe what a perverted dumbass he was sometimes.

"All right, all right," Soul said, rolling his eyes. Then, looking around Maka at Luna, he said in a very disclaimer-like fashion, "That was meant to be an insult to Maka only and is not meant to be a reflection on you in any way."

Luna smiled. "No worries… I just appreciate the two of you being kind enough to take me in."

Maka's heart nearly melted at the sight of Luna with a smile on her face. A real one. Not like all the fake ones she had given yesterday while Maka had been feeding her and tending to her injuries. She certainly hadn't taken offense to it, knowing that Luna's mind was probably occupied with so many concerns, but seeing Luna's spirits just a little bit brighter made her happy. She couldn't believe she had been suspicious of this girl's nature for even a second.

Grinning back, Maka said, "As long as you're living with us, you can make yourself right at home, and we'll be there to help you out whenever you need it."

They arrived at home, and, realizing that class was going to be starting soon, Maka called Blair.

The small black cat walked out into the living room, stretching, as if having just woken up. "Will you help out Luna with whatever she needs today?"

Sleepily, Blair replied, "I guess."

Suddenly and with big eyes, Luna said, "You guys are leaving?"

"We have to!" Maka said, in a rush as she made her way to the door.

"We left all our stuff there," Soul said, "And we still have class, you know?"

"Blair will help you with whatever you need, okay?" Maka said, and with quick wave, she and Soul took their leave out the door.

Knowing that they were so very behind, the two partners broke into a partial run down the street.

"He'll kill us if we're late," Soul said between breaths as he jogged.

"I know," Maka replied.

"You think she'll be okay?" he asked a moment later.

"Luna?" Maka asked. "She has Blair. She'll be fine!"

With a small laugh, Soul shook his head. "Yeah. That's what worries me."

* * *

Luna stood awkwardly in the middle of Maka and Soul's living room. Without the two of them with her, the apartment felt unwelcoming and foreign to her.

On the other side of the room, Blair the cat stretched and yawned. "Yeah… well, I'm gonna go finish my nap. You can handle yourself for a while, right? Help yourself to what's in the fridge or whatever."

There was no time for Luna to respond before Blair turned her tail and left the room. And just like that, Luna was left to her own devices in a strange home. But Luna took a few deep breaths; she couldn't allow herself to be unsettled. She may have been abandoned by her guardians and left with a talking cat who didn't seem to care one way or the other, but in a few hours, Maka and Soul would be back. Until then, she simply had to find a way to entertain herself.

So, she decided to start exploring. It was not a large place, as it was just an apartment, and Luna had seen the majority of it in passing yesterday and this morning. But she really hadn't gotten a chance to familiarize herself with her surroundings due to the fact that she had spent most of that time in bed.

The living room was spacious and comfortable, although nothing too extraordinary. There was a sofa and a television… a few chairs. And on a small lamp stand, there sat a framed photograph of Maka and Soul together. Soul had an arm looped around Maka's shoulders, with that devious, shark-ish grin on his face. And Maka leaned onto him easily, smiling at the camera sweetly and making a peace sign with her fingers.

Both of them looked so happy and content with one another. Luna wondered if all meister/weapon relationships were like that.

Reluctantly, Luna moved away from the picture and moseyed into the kitchen. It was a tiny kitchen, but it looked like it still got the job done. Although Luna felt a little intrusive about it, she opened the fridge to see what was inside. To her surprise, there actually wasn't much to see. There was a bottle of milk that was about to expire, as well as what looked like some salad ingredients such as lettuce and carrots and onions. And a container of leftover miso soup. Someone apparently needed to go shopping.

Otherwise, there were only a few more rooms and all of the doors were closed. She remembered the one that belonged to Maka, as she had stayed in it during all of yesterday. She also remembered the bathroom, having used it a few times. And she guessed that the other room belonged to Soul, but she certainly didn't want to impose on it without his permission, so she left it alone.

However, the bathroom looked quite tempting. Luna was so sore all over, and started thinking that maybe a long bath would help her loosen up.

But when she opened the door, the sight she beheld was not at all what she expected.

Someone was sitting in the tub. A woman, it seemed. And she was covered from the bottom up to her chest in water and suds.

Luna backed away instinctively. "What the hell-"

"Hey!" the woman exclaimed in an irritated tone. "Didn't you ever learn to knock before entering a bathroom?"

Luna stood with her mouth open in shock. "I… but… who _are_ you?" Maka and Soul had mentioned nothing about another person living in their house.

The woman looked almost insulted. "What, don't you recognize me? I'm Blair, remember?"

Luna blinked. "Blair… as in Blair the _cat_?" She placed her palm to her head in amazement. Maybe it should have tipped her off that Blair could talk, but she never would have imagined that Blair had the ability to transform back and forth between cat and human form.

"Okay…" Luna murmured. "So, you're a shapeshifting cat. Great. And you may be the only cat in the universe who actually enjoys bathing. Sorry for disturbing you."

As Luna turned to leave, Blair stood up. "Hey, wait up-"

Cringing, Luna held her hand up and averted her eyes. "Hey, not while I'm still in here!" She had no desire to see this woman naked.

"What?" Blair asked, sounding confused. "We're both girls. Hey, why don't you join me? You're probably feeling run down, huh? And since we're both going to be living here, we can get to know each other better."

"No, thanks," Luna replied, shaking her head.

"Why not?" Blair complained, sitting back down in the water with a pout on her lip.

"I don't even know you!"

"Oh, but no one ever wants to take a bath with me," Blair said with a dramatic sigh. "Maka won't do it, and she never lets Soul take one with me."

Luna almost laughed at that statement. Yep, she could imagine Maka demolishing Soul for something like that, and she had only lived with them for a day.

Shaking her head, Luna turned away. "Yeah, sorry… I think I'll pass."

"Oh, but wait-" Blair began to protest, just as Luna shut she door.

Once safely outside, she leaned back against the door and closed her eyes.

 _Talk about exhausting…_

* * *

Franken Stein sat quietly in his classroom, grading papers with a frustrated look on his face. Some days, he truly hated teaching.

Because they were stupid answers. They were all stupid answers. This kid hadn't even put forth an effort. How hard was it to take an hour out of your evening to do Biology homework? _Correctly_?

With a violent motion, Stein shoved his papers to the side, dropped his pen, and leaned back in his chair. Letting out a sigh, he pulled his glasses off of his face and cleaned them on his tattered, torn apart, and then stitched up again lab coat.

He had planned to have all of his papers graded to hand in to his students today before classes began, but the closer time came to the first bell, the less Stein felt inclined to finish. He was tired and irritable, and the issues he usually let slide were getting to him. For the last month or so, all the stress had been eating at him. He often found himself searching for something to take apart and put back together just to put his mind at ease.

Since the battle with Medusa, dissecting had been more of a hobby than an obsessive compulsion. But lately…

God, he wanted a cigarette. It was too bad he had left them at home.

"Stein," a voice said sternly.

Stein looked up from his chair, and standing next to him was Spirit, his friend and former weapon partner.

In an annoyed tone, Stein said, "You could have knocked."

"I did," Spirit replied. "You didn't answer."

With a glance at his classroom door upon realizing that he hadn't heard Spirit knock, he grunted. Picking up his pen, he grabbed the paper he had been grading and began analyzing it once again.

"Lord Death asked to see you," Spirit said plainly.

 _Now, of all times?_

"Classes are going to start soon," Stein muttered, pretending to concentrate on the work in front of him. "I'll visit him later."

"He said it's important."

Stein glanced up at Spirit, noting the serious expression on the Death Scythe's face. Then, with a sigh, he pushed himself up from his desk. "Fine." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he maneuvered past Spirit and started down the hall.

What could have been such an important matter for Lord Death to summon Stein right before morning classes? He could have easily called for him during break, or after school.

There was just too much to worry about.

Stein headed down the long corridor and made his way to the Death Room, where Lord Death was standing waiting for him patiently.

"Good morning, Stein," Lord Death said pleasantly.

"Morning," Stein replied. "So, what is you want to talk to me about?"

Lord Death walked toward him. "I'm sorry for dragging you out here in such an untimely fashion, but I need your help."

"What is it?"

"Tomorrow, you are going to have a new student."

Stein raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was quite unexpected. "A new student? When was this decided?"

"This morning," Lord Death said. "That's why I wanted you to know right away. And you… more so than any of the other teachers."

Eying Lord Death suspiciously Stein asked, "Why is that?"

Without hesitation, Lord Death began. "Your new student's name is Luna. And that's just about everything I know about her. Soul and Maka found her out on the street two nights ago. But she doesn't remember anything about herself. Only her name at that she seems to know a thing or two about soul wavelengths and weapons and meisters."

"So you have no idea where she came from?" Stein inquired.

"No." Lord Death shook his head. "That's why… I'd like you to keep an eye on her for the time being."

Of course. The only teacher Lord Death ever asked to do this sort of thing was Stein. "What are we looking for, exactly?"

"I wouldn't know," Lord Death said with a shrug. "In all honesty, when I spoke with her, she seemed like the most harmless girl you could meet. She was shy… nervous, but overall, just a sweet girl with beautiful eyes… but a very strong soul wavelength. Essentially, she is joining us here at the academy to help her to find out the worth of her knowledge, and perhaps to discover some new knowledge, as well. But she is also a girl whose past is shrouded in mystery. It's just… better safe than sorry. She'll be staying with Soul and Maka for now, but I would like you to watch over her as well while she's at school, if it's not too much trouble." Then he added on cheerfully, "I only ask because I have the utmost faith in your abilities and your loyalty to this city!"

"I'm sure I can handle it," Stein confirmed, scratching the back of his head. _Trying to flatter me, are we?_

But as he walked back to class, Stein's thoughts wandered to the girl Lord Death had described to him. A girl with no memories, turning up in Death City. What were the odds? There was something not quite right about it… although Lord Death didn't outwardly seem all that concerned about her nature. Shy… nervous… and sweet, he'd said. He was even letting Maka and Soul keep her with them at their apartment. Not that Maka and Soul couldn't take care of themselves.

Lord Death trusted everyone unless they gave him a reason not to. So it was not unexpected that he would invite this mysterious child into his home and treat her like part of the family right away. Still, the precautions he took by having Stein keep an eye on her were not unreasonable.

Unfortunately for Stein, until tomorrow, he knew next to nothing and could pass no judgment on this girl, Luna.

With a deep sigh while turning the bolt in his head, Stein turned the knob and opened the door to his classroom. Upon entering the room, his face tensed up in annoyance when he realized that there were students in their seats. He glanced up at the clock, realizing that, during his discussion with Lord Death, he had gotten distracted and forgot what time it was. Now he was several minutes late to class.

As he walked to his desk, he slowly counted the students in their seats. And then his eyes rested on Maka and Soul, who were still shuffling about and just sitting down.

The corner of his mouth tugged up into a tiny smile.

 _Looks like I wasn't the only one…_

"All right, class," he said, leaning on his desk. "Let's get started."


	4. Conclusions

**Hi, there! Welcome to chapter 3 of The Witch's Madness! In this chapter, Luna will meet some of the students, and we'll get to see Stein's first impressions of her.**

 **I just wanted to say thanks to WeLoveFanfiction for my first review on this story! I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far, and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as well :)**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

Conclusions

The morning of Luna's first day at school, Maka loaned her another outfit, which turned out to be a blue button-down shirt and a knee-length skirt. Luna was not particularly fond of skirts, but she could hardly complain since she didn't have anything else to wear.

As Maka sent Luna into the bathroom to get changed into the outfit, she grinned and said, "This weekend we'll go shopping and buy you some of your own clothes! But for the rest of the week, I'll just share with you."

Luckily, Maka and Luna were about the same size.

After Luna got changed, she, Maka, and Soul got their belongings together (well, Luna didn't really have belongings) and shuffled out the door.

"Looks like we won't be late today, at least," Soul said, locking his fingers behind his head as the three academy students walked to school.

"Shhh!" Maka scolded. "Don't jinx it! We got seriously lucky yesterday. I don't even know how we managed to pull that."

"Stein was late," Soul told her in an almost incredulous tone. "I'll admit, I was amazed. He gets on your case if you show up thirty seconds late to class, and then he has the nerve walk in after the bell. Crazy old man."

"Uh…Stein?" Luna asked, suddenly curious.

"He's our biology teacher," Maka explained. "He's also one the most powerful meisters at the academy… other than Lord Death."

"And he's a nutcase," Soul interjected. "Don't forget, he's a nutcase."

"Professor Stein is _not_ a nutcase!" Maka defended. "He's just… a little unusual, that's all. **"** She turned and smiled at Luna awkwardly. "He… has a unique way of going about things. He's kind of grumpy sometimes… and upon first glance, you'll probably want to turn and run the other direction. But he's great, really. He's taught us a lot, and I respect and trust him, wholeheartedly."

"Just don't be late to his class," Soul snickered. "Or he'll probably dissect you along with his lab rats!"

Upon hearing Maka's vague explanation, Luna began to wonder just what type of person Professor Stein was. She briefly remembered her talk with Lord Death yesterday and her confrontation with Maka's father. Was everyone at the DWMA out of their mind?

Luna and her new friends entered the school building, which was much livelier this morning as classes were about to start than it had been yesterday when she was here. And it was definitely livelier.

" _Yahooooo!_ " a high-pitched voice sounded through the hall ways as if the world had just been saved.

"Yo, Black Star," Soul greeted coolly, gesturing down the hall with the casual wave of his hand. Luna backed partially behind Maka as a highly energetic young boy with spiky blue hair sprang in their direction. Behind him followed a much taller girl with a long pony-tail.

"Soul," the boy responded, confidently bumping fists with Maka's partner.

"Hi, there, Black Star," Maka said cheerfully, reaching back and grabbing Luna by the hand. "I want you to meet our new friend, Luna."

Maka kept her hand at Luna's back so that she couldn't step away. Black Star leaned forward, as if inspecting Luna carefully. "Hmph. Luna, huh? Doesn't look so special to me. But then again, I wouldn't expect you to be. Not in comparison to a super star like me." He held his hand out. "I'm Black Star and I'm gonna surpass God!"

Hesitantly, unsure what to make of Black Star, took his hand and allowed him to shake it firmly. "Nice to meet you… Black Star."

He tilted his head to the side. "And this here's my weapon partner, Tsubaki!"

The girl beside Black Star called Tsubaki bowed her head kindly. "Hi, Luna. It's nice to meet you."

Tsubaki looked much more calm and collected than Black Star, and her gentle smile comforted Luna. "Same to you, Tsubaki."

"Looks like we got some fresh meat on the table," another female voice cut in.

Luna turned, and before her stood two girls and a boy in the middle. One of the girls was mature and older-looking, while the other had very childish eyes. And the boy… Luna wasn't entirely sure how to describe him at first.

"Be nice, Liz," the boy said calmly. Then, he approached Luna with a serious expression on his face. "You're Luna, right? My father told me about you. Welcome to the DWMA."

Luna blinked in confusion. "Your… father?"

"Lord Death," Maka whispered in her ear.

Luna nearly fell over from shock. "L… Lord Death? Seriously?"

Maybe she shouldn't have been as astonished as she was, but the fact that Lord Death had a son was almost too much to take in. She hadn't thought he'd been human! And now, this boy her age stood before her, who, in his own way, also looked inhuman. But for certain, he looked nothing at all like Lord Death. With his golden eyes and slender appearance, she could hardly believe it.

"Death the Kid, at your service," he said respectfully.

But what really got Luna was his hair. It was as black as hair could get, except for the three horizontal white stripes on the left side of his head. Had he dyed it? Or was it just naturally that way? No, it couldn't have been natural. His hair couldn't be both black and white like that, could it?

"Is something wrong?" Death the Kid asked, watching Luna's face curiously.

Realizing she'd been staring, Luna blushed and averted her gaze. "Oh… no, I'm sorry… it's just… your hair caught my attention…"

Death the Kid's face suddenly went blank, and an instant lately, he was down on his hands and knees in between the two girls he'd shown up with. A miserable aura surrounded him, as if something Luna said had placed him in the depths of despair. "She hates me…" he murmured in agony. "She noticed how asymmetrical my hair is and now she hates me!"

"Here we go, again," Soul murmured behind Luna.

Bewildered by the situation, Luna stepped forward. "Oh, no, I-"

"It's nothing more or less than I deserve," he continued, not listening to Luna's attempt to explain. "I'm an abomination, and I don't deserve to exist. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

The childish girl at his side rubbed his back affectionately. "It's okay, Kid! I'm sure she didn't mean it!"

Meanwhile, the other girl just looked like she'd already had enough of all this nonsense.

Luna reached a hand out, still not knowing just what she had done wrong or why Death the Kid's hair was such a sensitive subject for him, and said, "No… please… I'm sorry. I didn't… mean to insult you. I've just never seen hair like that before. It's not an abomination or anything. I, uh… I like it."

Actually, Luna hadn't thought about whether or not she liked his hair at all. But anything to get him to stop wallowing in self-pity in the middle of the hallway.

Death the Kid looked up and turned his head toward her. "Really? You like my hair?"

"Uh… yeah…"

All of the sudden, Death the Kid was on his feet, gripping Luna's tiny hands in between his own. "Really? Truly? You're only saying that to make me feel better, aren't you? Don't you see? It's completely asymmetrical."

"I-"

"Get over yourself, dude," Black Star said with an annoyed sigh. "She doesn't care about your hair, at all. None of us do."

Awkwardly, Luna gave Death the Kid her most reassuring smile. "It's okay. I… really do like your hair. I hope… we can be friends."

Death the Kid's eyes sparkled. "Oh, how I'd love that! If you ever need me for anything, please don't hesitate. As a Reaper and as the son of the Headmaster, it is my duty to see to it that all new students are treated well. Those two girls are my weapon partners, Liz and Patty," he added, gesturing behind him.

As Luna greeted both of the girls politely, the first bell rang.

"Time to go to class!" Maka sang with a smile on her face.

And as the group of meisters and weapons all walked to class together, Luna came to her first conclusion: Everyone at the DWMA was most definitely out of their mind.

* * *

Stein watched absently as his students filed into class. Generally, he would have been writing something on the board or grading papers, but he was keeping an eye out for this new girl that Lord Death had assigned to him yesterday.

It wasn't in his nature to be interested in the new students who ever happened to walk into his room. But this was a unique case. A girl with no past, no memories, and few experiences… this was a puzzle to be solved. And Stein thought perhaps a puzzle was exactly what he needed to keep his mind in check. Something to focus on, something to catch his interest…

His eyes narrowed when he saw them. First came Black Star and Tsubaki… Death the Kid and his partners, Patty and Liz… and there she was.

He noticed her as she walked in, hiding in between Maka and Soul like a frightened five-year-old who was unfamiliar with her surroundings. But by the way she smiled when she spoke to them, it seemed that she had already grown fairly comfortable with the pair. As he observed, she was about the same size as Maka. Only, she was thinner, as if she had been half-starved for a few weeks.

And her soul. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, silently marveling at the complexity and the intensity of the girl's soul wavelength. Because of all the stress she seemed to be locking up inside herself, her soul was slightly unstable and rigid. But from what he could see on the surface, the pulse of her soul was quite unlike anything he'd seen in any of his students. Not as large as a student like Black Star's, but not as youthful and innocent as Maka's. It was bright and alive and open, like the moon reflecting off of the tide on a summer night. Unbelievably mesmerizing.

Stein watched the young girl sit down by Soul and Maka, sinking into her chair, clearly still not wanting to be seen. She breathed slowly glanced around the room curiously, as if she was attempting to take in her new surroundings. As she scanned the room, her eyes stopped on him, and their gazes locked for about a second before she looked down at the floor, her pale cheeks turning slightly pink.

He wondered briefly what it was about this situation that upset her so much. Was it that she was hiding something? Or… maybe it was just that she was in distress because of her memory loss?

What was it that Lord Death had said? She was shy.

Now, by no means was Stein the type of man who related well to human behaviors and emotions, but he knew how shy people tended to act. They tended to struggle when it came to dealing with new people and new situations and when addressed, they became nervous and withdrawn. First, the girl had walked into the classroom practically cowering in between Soul and Maka. She sat down, sank into her chair and scanned the room with her eyes like a frightened animal. And then when she looked at Stein, she had immediately averted her gaze and blushed.

Yes. Based on Lord Death's observation and Stein's own analysis, this new student was, in fact, shy.

The bell rang, pulling Stein from the realm of his mind and back to the classroom. He cast his eyes to his students, who all watched him expectantly, waiting for him to begin.

He knew it was customary for new students to be announced in front of the class, but when he glanced at the girl, he decided not to bother. The only people who really needed to know her name already knew it. And truthfully, he couldn't have cared less. So he let it go and began class as if it were any other day.

However, as he proceeded, he found himself continually distracted throughout the class. Each time he looked over at the girl, he was perplexed and slightly irritated by the fact that she didn't seem to be paying attention at all. She always seemed to be either twirling a pencil in her hand or staring off into space as if the world around her didn't matter.

And finally, after about a half hour of being ignored, Stein said, "You know, you could at least pretend to pay attention." When she didn't may any indication she'd heard him, he used her name. "Luna."

All of the sudden, her head jerked up and she met his eyes. "Uh… yes, sir?"

He felt the lines on his forehead crease as several students began snickering, and he shook his head in frustration. "Just pay attention."

When class, after what felt like hours, came to an end, Stein waited until Luna was approaching the door with Maka and Soul. "You," he said firmly. "Stay."

Luna stopped in her tracks and seemed to give Maka a look of some sort. "It'll be okay," he heard Maka tell her softly before leaving with Soul.

As if being pushed against her will by some unknown force, Luna approached Stein's desk. Lowering her gaze, she began speaking before he could get a word in edgewise. "Please, sir, I'm sorry if I disrespected you in any way. I promise I'll pay better attention next time."

Unable to cover up his amazement at her surprise apology, Stein almost laughed. "I'm not mad."

She looked up with wide eyes. "You're not?"

He realized then just how strikingly beautiful this young girl was. From a distance, he hadn't paid much attention her appearance other than the thinness of her limbs from nominal malnutrition. But up close, he noticed how her long, ghostly white hair fell around her fragile face in wavy locks, and how her complexion complemented her gentle, innocent features. And it was just as Lord Death said. Her liquid, dark brown eyes were stunning, with long lashes that made them look even bigger and more innocent.

He startled himself with the passing thought that even he would hate to cut up such a beautiful face.

But, quickly composing himself, he said to her, "No, I'm not."

"Okay…" she whispered, sounding a bit skeptical.

"Actually," he said, placing his elbows on his desk. "I just wanted to talk to you. I know you, of course, from Lord Death and my new class roster… but I thought I should introduce myself. I'm your biology teacher, Professor Stein."

Luna nodded her head gently. "It's… nice to meet you, Professor Stein."

Then, deciding to make a more forward move, he said, "So… I understand that you've lost all your memories."

She stared at him incredulously, and opened her mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," he told her. "But… Lord Death has asked me to keep an eye on you while you're at school here." She remained silent, so he continued. "I hear that the reason you're attending the DWMA is because you think you may have the powers of a meister or weapon. A word of advice, though… if you want to make any progress, I'd recommend paying attention during class."

Luna's face turned red and she shrank back a little. "I'm sorry… I only… well, I paid attention at first, but I realized that I already knew everything you were talking about, so I got bored."

Stein raised his eyebrows. The material he was currently covering was entirely new to his other students. "You're saying you understood all of it?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Interesting," he murmured.

When Luna shifted her weight and gave Stein worried look, he smiled crookedly. "What? Are you afraid of me, Luna?"

Her eyes widened again and she clasped her hands behind her back. "I… well…"

"Don't worry about it. That's normal. I don't take it personally."

For a moment, he was silent as he leaned back in his chair and turned the bolt in his head until it clicked. Then, without comment, he pushed himself on the wheels of his chair toward his filing cabinet on the other side of the room. As the chair picked up speed, he lifted his feet off the ground, only to discover that that was a mistake when he lost his balance and fell backwards. The chair went with him, and he was on his face on the floor. At least he was already in front of the filing cabinet.

Although he thought he heard a giggle from the other end of the room, he pretended not to notice and opened his filing cabinet. After rummaging through his unorganized mess for a moment, he pulled out the papers he was looking for and rolled his chair back over to his desk.

"Here," he said, handing Luna the papers.

"What are these?" she asked, looking at them in confusion.

"Your homework," Stein said. "This is a biology class, after all. And no matter how much you understood today, you still have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh, okay," she said. And to his surprise, with a smile on her face, she said, "Thank you, Professor Stein."

Brushing her off, he jerked his head toward the door. "Go catch up with Soul and Maka and the others. I'll see you tomorrow in class."

And with a quick nod, she scurried out of the room like an elated squirrel. He wasn't sure if she was happy to finally be rid of him for the day or if she just had something desperately wrong with her.

As he sat down at his desk and leaned back to close his eyes, he came to a conclusion: Luna was a very strange girl. And coming from a man like Stein, that was saying something.


	5. Friends

**Hey, guys! Welcome to chapter 4 of The Witch's Madness. If anyone was waiting, I apologize that this took a while. I've been preoccupied, plus I have another fanfiction I'm working on, and it's difficult to alternate. Sometimes I even forget to write in third person for this one because I'm so used to using first person. Hopefully, I didn't mess that up in this chapter.**

 **Anyway, in this chapter, Luna gets to know some of the other students a little bit, like Black Star and Kid and the others. Crona is also introduced and they all go out after school to get icecream. Yay, icecream!**

 **Thanks and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

Friends

Guilt plagued Maka's mind as she exited Professor Stein's classroom beside Soul, leaving a frightened Luna behind.

"Wow, that face she gave you was pretty priceless," Soul commented as they walked down the hall. "I almost feel sorry for her. Being left alone with him on her first day. Not cool. I hope she isn't traumatized."

"She'll be fine, Soul," Maka insisted, even though she also felt sorry for her new friend. It wasn't as if she didn't trust Professor Stein, but despite her reassurances, Luna had never met him. Maka recalled her first meeting with Professor Stein, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. When he wanted to be, that man was truly terrifying. Luna was already timid and unsure of herself as a result of not even knowing who she was. What if he really _did_ traumatize the poor girl?

Maka shook her head violently in an effort to banish undesirable thoughts.

"What on earth are you doing?" Soul asked, giving her an exhausted look.

"Nothing," Maka responded with an annoyed sigh. Then, she came to a stop. Turning her head, she glanced down the hall to Professor Stein's room. "Let's just wait for her, here."

Ahead of them walked Kid and Black Star and the others, but none of them seemed to notice that she stopped at first. At least, not until Tsubaki turned her head. "You guys aren't coming?"

As the rest of the group stopped and glanced at her, Maka smiled. "It's cool, guys! I'm just staying behind for Luna. She's still talking to Professor Stein."

"Whoa..." Black Star said. "She's so quiet, I didn't even notice she wasn't with us."

"You want us to stay behind with you?" Kid offered, the kind gentleman he was despite his obsessive compulsive tendencies.

"Oh, no way!" Maka assured them. "She doesn't need all of us to stay. I'm just staying because I promised I'd take care of her as long as she was living with me. You guys go. We'll catch up later."

Maka's friends, with nods and words of agreement, all went on their way. All except for Soul, who halted at her side, leaning against the wall. "We'll be late, you know."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know her way around," Maka said, passively watching Professor Stein's door. "It's okay. If you want to get to class, go ahead. I'll be right behind you."

Soul didn't budge from his position, but instead asked, "You always get attached to the weird ones, don't you?"

"She's not weird!" Maka shot back. "And it has nothing to do with attachment. I'm just being nice. Something you could probably use a lesson on."

"I'm always nice," he said. "I just don't like being late. It's not cool."

"Yeah, well, neither is complaining. So either shut up or go to class by yourself!"

She heard Soul let out a sigh. But he didn't leave; he simply leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Because as much of a jerk as he could be sometimes, he wouldn't abandon her. Of that much she was certain.

* * *

Luna left Professor Stein's room in a better mood than when she arrived. Even though the eccentric teacher had loaded her down with homework and stared at her as if she was some sort of science experiment, something about him had calmed her nerves.

She'd been terrified at first; he had a screw in his head, for crying out loud! And he had stitches. A lot of stitches, all over his face, his clothes, and based on the apparent theme she was noticing, she guessed he had more all over his body. More than anything, she was curious as to how someone ended up with so many stitches in the first place. Had he somehow been injured?

Maybe she should ask Maka. But then again, she didn't want to be nosy.

Professor Stein gave Luna the impression that he was sort of a closed off and reserved type of person… but his soul was immensely strong. When Maka had told her that he was powerful, she wasn't joking around. With a soul of that magnitude, she knew he had to have been a formidable meister.

Yet, although he had spoken to her coldly and she knew that he had sensed she was intimidated, she wasn't able to hold back the laugh that escaped her lips when he fell in his chair. Something about the scene had been oddly comical, and like the snap of her fingers, she no longer felt nearly as afraid of him as she did when he called her to his desk. In fact, if she weren't so shy, she almost thought it would be interesting to get to know him. Despite his strange appearance, he seemed calm and level-headed enough, unlike the majority of the people she'd met since arriving in Death City.

And she had a feeling she'd be seeing more of him on a regular basis after he told her that Lord Death was having him keep tabs on her. Which, upon thinking about it more in depth, creeped out Luna just a tiny bit. Was Lord Death keeping her under watch because he worried about her transition into becoming a student? Or was it because he was suspicious? Maybe a bit of both. Lord Death had been very kind and generous to her and she greatly appreciated it, but she couldn't blame him for being cautious, either. To be fair, she'd shown up out of nowhere with nothing but her first name to identify herself and shady knowledge about weapons and meisters. As far as she was aware, she had no desire or motive to bring harm to a single living being in Death City.

But when she didn't even know herself, who was to say?

For now, the only choice she had was to go with the flow and try to remember. As long as she could keep the trust of the people at the school, she had a feeling she could trust them, as well. It was only her first day; she had to be patient.

As Luna hesitantly walked out of the classroom, she turned and immediately saw Maka and Soul waiting for her at the end of the hall. Her breathing slowed with relief when Maka waved at her, and she rushed over to meet her friends.

"You waited for me?" she asked as she stopped in front of them.

Maka laughed light-heartedly. "Of course we did! We couldn't have you getting lost."

With a small grimace, she said, "But I probably made you guys late, huh?"

"Hey, it's no big deal. I'm sure the teacher will understand that we were helping out a new student. Right, Soul?"

All of the sudden, Soul's head shot up as if he hadn't been paying a bit of attention to what the two girls were saying. Pushing his fingers through his white hair, he said, "Uh… yeah, I'm sure. No big deal."

Luna was unable to prevent a smile from creeping onto her face. "Well… thank you."

To her surprise, Maka let out a little squeal and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Oh, Luna, you're just so pretty when you smile like that!"

Her cheeks heating up from embarrassment, Luna cast her gaze to the floor. But for some reason, the smile on her face wouldn't go away. "I… uh… thanks, I guess…"

"On a different note," Soul said abruptly, already starting to walk away. "How was the talk with Stein?"

As Maka released Luna's shoulder, Luna gave a little shrug. "He… wasn't so bad."

"Really?" Soul asked, his eyes widening slightly as if he was surprised. "I would have guessed he'd have you running for the hills."

With a nervous giggle, Luna said, "I kind of got over the terrified feeling when he toppled over in his rolling chair."

"Oh, yeah, he does that sometimes," Maka said casually. "I'm also guessing by the papers in your hand that he gave you lots of homework."

Luna looked down that the pile of worksheets that Professor Stein had shoved at her a few minutes ago. "Uh… yeah. He didn't really give me a due date, either, now that I think about it."

"Don't worry," Maka said, taking the papers from Luna and putting them in her bag. "I'll help you with it, later. There's a lot here and believe me: you don't want to go to his class without your homework done."

The rest of the day for Luna was fairly painless, other than normal nervousness about having to dealing with certain teachers and students for the first time. But by the time that the last bell rang, Luna was completely exhausted.

And she nearly sighed in exasperation when Maka suggested that she, Luna, Soul, Kid, Patty, Liz, Black Star, and Tsubaki all go out to get icecream together and show Luna around the city. Not that she didn't appreciate Maka's kind gesture, she'd had enough social interaction for one day and had no inclination to do anything but retire and go to bed.

Then again, the idea of icecream didn't sound so bad, either.

"Luna deserves a proper welcome!" Maka said happily. "She's been stuck inside for the last few days, anyway. I think she could use some time outside."

"Yeah, well, I guess," Black Star said with a smirk on his face. "Not like I have anything better to do."

"I'd be happy to tag along," Tsubaki said as Patty cheered excitedly beside her for the promise of icecream.

"I suppose it's settled, then," Death the Kid enunciated in a calm tone.

Maka, with a sweet smile on her face, glanced at Luna. "Is that okay?"

 _Well… since everyone seems to be happy to go along…_

Luna lifted the corner of her mouth up slightly. "Yeah… that's fine. Thanks."

Maka pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically, and as the group of students was about to take its leave, she stopped. "Oh, wait! We should invite Crona!"

As Luna was about to ask who Crona was, Kid turned his head and pointed down the hallway. "There he is."

The student that Kid pointed to was a thin and seemingly awkward young boy with pink hair. Luna raised an eyebrow; something was odd about him. Then again, who had she met at the DWMA that _wasn't_ odd in some way?

Maka waved. "Hey, Crona! Over here!"

The boy looked startled at first, but then slowly turned his head and smiled at Maka. He approached slowly and a bit nervously, stuttering out a hello before Maka gestured to Luna. "Crona, this is Luna. She's a new student here. We're all taking her out for icecream. Want to come with us?"

Crona looked almost as if no one had ever invited him anywhere in his life as he tried to come up with an answer. Feeling a little sorry for him, Luna bowed her head. "Hi, Crona… it's nice to meet you."

Looking up with wide eyes, he bowed his head in return. "Oh… yes! Hello, Luna! I… I'd be happy to join you… i-if you'd like."

Luna smiled. So he was shy like her. Actually, it seemed he took shy to a whole new level. She found it endearing. "Sure. I'd like to have you with us."

"Then it's settled!" Black Star exclaimed, brushing past Luna and Maka. "Now let's get out of here, already! A star like me has better things to do than wait around!" Without warning, the blue-haired meister shot out the academy doors like a rocket, making it nearly all the way down the steps before the others had even begun their descent. "Hurry it up, you slow pokes!"

"Cool it, Black Star!" Soul shouted back, seeming mildly irritated.

As Tsubaki made her way down the steps to try to catch up with her partner, the rest of the group members took their time, Luna only watching Black Star racing off into the distance while she walked beside Maka. Despite her own slight annoyance at Black Star's behavior, Maka didn't seem fazed so Luna paid no heed and decided to focus on enjoy her time with her new friends.

The group, upon entering the icecream shop, all ordered the flavor they wanted. Luna stared up at the menu, slowly becoming more and more perplexed by her situation. She had been excited about getting icecream all the way here, but as she watched the people around her like Liz and Soul ordering and receiving their icecream, she couldn't seem to remember one flavor from the other.

"What is it, Luna?" Maka asked. "Don't you know what you want?"

Luna looked away sheepishly. "Well… this is probably going to sound stupid… but I don't quite… remember the taste of icecream. I don't know what to get."

Maka gaped in amazement. "You don't remember!? Icecream? Well, we'll have to fix that. I'm ordering strawberry. You can try that with me and see what you think."

Luna agreed, and Maka ordered two strawberry icecream cones for each of them. As Luna lifted the cone up to her lips to try, she glanced up to notice Maka staring at her expectantly. "Well?" she asked. "Try and tell me what you think!"

Hesitantly, Luna took a lick of the pink colored icecream. As she let the flavor slide down her throat, she shivered. So sweet! But…

"This is amazing," she said, taking another lick immediately. "Oh… wow. This is so good. I can't believe I forgot!"

At her excited response, Maka giggled, causing Luna to giggle, too. The other students looked at them curiously. "What are you girls laughing about?" Soul asked.

Taking a lick of her own icecream, Maka grinned. "Oh, nothing. Just girl stuff."

Soul rolled his eyes and went back to eating his own icecream.

As the group enjoyed their icecream, they took a leisurely walk around the city to familiarize Luna with her surroundings. Despite its slightly disturbing appearance, the city was actually quite lively and filled with plenty of interesting places to go. She was still glad she had her friends with her, though, because there were so many twists and turns that she knew she'd have gotten lost without them.

They passed each of the group member's houses, the most impressive obviously being Death the Kid's. As they went by, Luna stared at the extravagant mansion, which bore the skull as the academy did. In fact, it was almost as big as the academy itself, complete with outside gates and everything.

"Whoa…" Luna murmured.

Kid appeared at her side in an instant, startling her. "I know! Completely symmetrical, isn't it?" She could almost see the hearts popping out of his eyes as he rested his gaze on his home. "I never get tired of looking at it. Other than the DWMA, it's the only completely symmetrical building in the city!"

Luna met his eyes. "You checked?"

"Of course, I did!" he said, as if it was entirely obvious. "And, likewise, I was kind enough to inform the owners of the wretched states of their property, but they simply don't appreciate the importance of symmetry in architecture!" He looked as if he might start crying again like he did earlier that morning, but Luna didn't know what to say. Honestly, she didn't really care about symmetry in architecture, either. She just thought his home looked impressive for being the size that it was.

Later, they also passed the basketball court, where Soul, Kid, Black Star, and Liz played a game. Meanwhile, Luna was entertained by conversation between her and Maka, Tsubaki, Patty, and Crona and the strange partner attached to him, Ragnarok. And along the way she somehow found herself opening up, talking and laughing with them the way that friends were supposed to. It was a comforting feeling.

After the game was over, it was time to say goodbye. The sun was beginning to set, and Luna still had a ton of homework to do given to her by Professor Stein. So with friendly smiles, and spastic laughter for some, each of the tiny groups went their separate ways. And Luna was left alone with Maka and Soul once again.

"That was fun!" Maka said, stretching out her arms as she walked. "We should do that more often."

Luna agreed with a short nod. Oddly enough, even though she hadn't been too sure about this adventure as school was dismissing, she was glad she had come out this afternoon to get to know Soul and Maka's friends. They were a unique bunch… likeable, once she got over the initial first meeting awkwardness. She wouldn't have been opposed to doing something like it again.

"Who's making dinner, tonight?" Soul asked nonchalantly, folding his fingers behind his head.

Cringing, Maka shook her head. "Oh, I completely forgot!"

"Nice. Now what are we gonna do? You know, now that we have someone new living in the house, you could always dump dinner plans on her every once in while."

"No way, Soul! Luna's our guest!"

As the lazy weapon and high-strung meister bickered, Luna let her eyes scan her area. For some reason, although she didn't think she'd been here before, she thought it seemed familiar. The shapes of the buildings and the street she was on… something was off. As her eyes followed the row of buildings down the road, they lingered for a few seconds on a particular alley between two shops.

 _A kishin…_

Her eyes widened as a horrifying image of a corpse flashed in her mind. Her pulse quickened, and she stopped in her tracks. Her mind entered the darkness of the deserted alleyway. Blood everywhere. So much blood. A kishin. A soulless human. A weapon…

"Hey, Luna!" Maka exclaimed, jolting Luna out of her trance. Reluctantly, Luna turned her gaze away from the alley and looked at Maka's concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

With a tone of voice that she knew sounded mechanic, she said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's… just get back."

As she averted her eyes from Maka's and forced her legs to start moving again, she still felt her heart racing in her chest. What had happened just now? A memory? If so, why had there been so much blood? It couldn't have been… no… she wouldn't have hurt anyone. That was impossible. But if it was a kishin, maybe there was a reason.

She squinted. Trying to logically put it together was making her head hurt. Whatever it was that she had experienced, all she knew for certain was that it was a memory of some kind, and that she had to figure out what it meant as soon as possible.

As she made her way back to the apartment in silence, she stared straight ahead and pretended not to notice the meaningful glances shared by Soul and Maka.


	6. A Cold Night and a Clumsy Scientist

**Hello, friends! So, yes, I know it has been like two months since I updated this and I am so very sorry about that. First my muse wouldn't come, and then I started college... it's been so crazy and I just haven't been in the position to update The Witch's Madness. However, now I'm back and I am here with chapter 6!**

 **So a recap: Last chapter, Luna got to go out with her new friends to enjoy herself for an afternoon, but at the end, a familiar place gave her a disturbing memory. This chapter does not contain Luna at all, but it does introduce two new original characters and Marie! It's not a really long chapter, but I had lots of fun writing it. I love Stein and Marie! Personally, I feel like both the manga and anime could have gone more in depth with their relationship and the bond between them. Although Stein is pretty cold-hearted, and sadistic at times, I always thought that there was something really special going on with those two. So, I think I am going to enjoy writing scenes for them :)**

 **As for the opening scene in the chapter, well... that came as a surprise for me. It turned out a lot differently than I expected so who knows how this is going to turn out?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! If you have time, please let me know what you think! I will try to be more timely with my next update if I can.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

A Cold Night and a Clumsy Scientist

"My lady?" The white fox peered up timidly at her mistress.

The moon sat high in the sky, illuminating Nishi's fur, as well as the light dusting of snow that covered the ground, in a dim glow. Snow fell silently from the clouds, slowly but surely covering the grass and trees in a soft, white sheet. Nishi, despite having a coat of fur to cover her body, shivered as she regarded the woman before her, but Rianni paid it no mind. After having spent the last few days searching with little rest, Rianni in no mood to show sympathy or compassion. She was ready to hear a lead, answers, _anything_ that would be of use.

"Well, Nishi? Anything?" Rianni prompted with a dark glare at her familiar.

 _You'd better have something for me._

Nishi cringed slightly, as if picking up on the vicious aura that surrounding Rianni, and lowered her head a fraction. "Regretfully… not, my lady."

The woman released her frustration with a huff of air and spun around on her heel, causing her long white hair and her coat to catch the breeze and fly out behind her. She dwelled heavily on her potentially fatal mistake and the tragedy that she would face if she failed to correct it. There was no method to calculate the vast number of individuals who might pay on her behalf. But she didn't care about them. There was only one thing that mattered to her.

With a bitter laugh, she murmured, "How can she be so difficult to find?"

Nishi replied quietly, "You have all the magic with you… and I can't track her scent, either. She could be anywhere in the world by now."

"That's what scares me," Rianni whispered, pinching the bridge of her nose between her long fingernails. "Nishi, do you realize how disastrous this is? She could be in the hands of that woman right now! Or worse, she could be…" Her words trailed off before she could finish and she pressed her fingertips to her temples.

"I am well aware, my lady," Nishi said with a slow nod. Then, after a moment she added, "Didn't you once tell me that you could return magic to its owner, wherever they are? So couldn't you just return it from here?"

Rianni smiled dryly. "A perfect plan… except that I need to know where she _is_ to go through with it."

Nishi muttered a nearly inaudible, "Oh," and looked down and flattened her ears. Rianni didn't bother to offer any comfort or reassurance, for she had none to give. She was far too focused on finding a way to fix the matter at hand.

Rianni hugged her coat closer to her body and listened to the breeze whistling in the trees. A chill traveled up her spine and images of her little girl, all alone to fend for herself on a cold night like this one, plagued her mind. Four days. Four days ago she had disappeared, without leaving behind so much as a trace of her existence. And Rianni and Nishi were no closer to finding her now than they had been on the night she disappeared.

What they needed was a different approach.

Rianni cast a glance at Nishi, and then turned and started walking away.

Nishi's paws were almost silent on the freezing ground as she ran to catch up. "My lady, where are you going?"

"Home," Rianni said shortly, throwing her coat from her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground.

"What?!" Nishi exclaimed. "But… that's far too dangerous! You can't-"

"I'm going home because it's the only option. If I can find something that belongs to her, I'll track her that way."

Nishi let out a cry of protest as Rianni shrank and faded into the form of a snow owl. "But it's all destroyed! How do you expect to find what you're looking for?"

"I don't have a choice!" Rianni snapped her newly formed beak at Nishi's snout, causing the latter to flinch back. _It's my one shred of hope._

Rianni ruffled her feathers, shaking off the snow that had fallen on her wings, and pushed herself off the ground. She felt the wind take her as she gained height and momentum, and only slowed when she heard Nishi calling from below her, running to try to keep up.

"Please, at least wait for me!" she shouted breathlessly in between strides.

The owl shook her head in annoyance. "There's no time! Meet me there!" And without waiting for a reply, Rianni took off full speed into the frigid night, the knowledge that she'd abandoned her familiar in the forest hardly weighing on her conscience. She couldn't afford to allow anyone to slow her down. She find to find her before that witch… if it wasn't already too late.

 _Hold on, baby girl…_

* * *

It was already late in the evening when Stein returned home and stepped through his door. With a heavy sigh, he kicked off his shoes and passed through the living room, only to stop abruptly when he heard his weapon partner call him from another room.

"Stein, is that you? Where have you been all this time? I made dinner, you know?"

"Save it for later," he responded blandly, not remotely caring about her or anything she may have done in the kitchen this evening. "I'm not hungry."

He retreated to his study before he was able to hear her reply. Sitting down at his desk and turning on his lamp, he pulled out a cigarette. After he lit it, he took a long drag, savoring the familiar taste on his tongue. Smoke curled from his lips as he exhaled, and he watched as it danced in the air, slowly fading into the expanse of the room. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, once again exhausted after an excessively long day. He couldn't decide if he would rather sleep, or toy with one of his robots for a few hours. It was a difficult choice, because as much as he struggled to hold his eyes open, he relished the idea of taking something apart. Anything, if it took his mind away from school work and missions.

Yet, there was still work that could not be ignored.

But as he took another drag of his cigarette, his mind somehow fixated itself on the girl again. The strange one he had agreed to observe for Lord Death. The mystery behind her origin had him at a loss. If he was going only on her personality, he would have said she was about as harmless as a ladybug. But her soul was truly something to behold; he could still almost hear the sound of the ocean as he remembered the powerful rhythm of her soul wavelength. She was no ordinary human being, and if he had to guess, she was probably far more dangerous than she outwardly appeared.

Perhaps he would ask Soul and Maka to share their experiences and opinions on her. He trusted the two of them to be honest with him, and they had already spent more time with her than anyone else at the academy had. If she was living with them, they could give him information on her habits and her attitude in their household. Anything that appeared suspicious, maybe even in relation to the night they found her. Lord Death's explanation on her had been vague, at best. If he was looking for answers, then he had to ask the right questions.

Stein absently reached over and put out his cigarette in his ash tray.

As he looked up and stared at the ceiling, he heard a voice whisper inside his head, _A sound soul… dwells within a sound mind… and a sound body._

He thought it to himself at least once a day, and had done so ever since his weapon partner, his gentle Marie, brought him back from the depths of madness over a year ago. He did it to remind himself of where he was, who he was, and why he was here. Because, although he would not admit it to anyone but himself, he feared the day he might wake up without his sanity.

It was pathetic, really, how he clung to his fragile humanity, as if he could even truly understand what it meant to be human in the first place. He wasn't like other people. He couldn't pretend to be, and he couldn't expect anyone else to understand his view of the world.

Still, he had something now that he hadn't had before. Even if he wasn't consciously aware of it.

Stein jolted when two hands touched his shoulders. He didn't even realize he'd drifted off.

"It's just me," a soothing voice said behind him. "I was worried, so I came back to check on you."

He blinked and pushed his glasses up, noting the plate of food sitting on his desk. He then glanced around at the woman behind him, golden hair, eyepatch and all, who still had her hands resting on his shoulders. "I told you I wasn't hungry," he said plainly.

"I know," she replied. "But you do need to eat, Stein. It's late and I don't want you going to bed without something in your stomach."

"Well, I'm not planning on going to bed for a while, yet," he said, shrugging off her hands and leaning forward to turn on his computer. "So I can eat, any time."

"You're working? A second ago, you were falling asleep in your chair."

"Just a quick refresh, but I appreciate you coming and waking me up. Feel free to leave, now, if you want."

She scoffed, dropping her hands and folding her arms across her chest. "Well, excuse me for giving a damn!"

He blinked in surprise as she stomped out of the room with steam practically shooting out of her ears.

 _Was it something I said?_

Running a hand through his hair, Stein let out a slightly exasperated sigh that Marie had neglected to shut the door when she left. But he didn't feel like getting up to close it, and instead focused his attention on the plate on his desk. It irritated him even more that Marie had taken the trouble to bring him food when he had specifically told her he wasn't hungry, but now that it was sitting in front of him, he figured that he might as well eat it.

At least, maybe if he did, it would put a smile on his partner's face.

So that's what he did. And after he was finished, he begrudgingly pushed himself from his chair and brought the plate out to the kitchen that, to his discomfort, Marie spent the last year decorating in the way she saw fit. In fact, these days his entire home was filled with unnecessary items: leisure furniture, cooking utensils, rugs, sweet-smelling soaps. He would never understand that woman's need for so much useless material, without which he had gotten along just fine before she moved in.

When he entered the kitchen, he was mildly surprised to see Marie standing at the sink with her back to him, washing the dishes and utensils she had used to make dinner.

She noticed his presence as he approached and turned her head. "Oh, Stein! Here, let me wash that for you."

Silently, Stein handed Marie the plate, pretending not to remember that she had left his office in a rage only ten minutes ago. It was nothing out of the ordinary for her. The pattern was fairly regular; she got angry with him for something at least once a week, but always returned to usual, light-hearted self after a short period of time to herself. He appreciated that quality about her.

"So, did you get to meet the new student Lord Death asked you to watch?" she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Oh, what did you say her name was, again?"

"Luna," Stein told her.

"That's right, Luna!" she said, clapping her hands together and causing soap to fly all over the place. He watched, half way between amusement and exhaustion, as Marie let out an angry growl and grabbed a towel to wipe soap off the counter. When she was done, she turned head toward him as if to say something, but he stopped her with the point of his finger.

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"Your face," he said. "You got soap on your face."

She scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Oh, really? Where?"

He pointed.

"Here?" she asked, rubbing at her cheek, but missing the spot entirely.

Stein frowned. "No, it's right there."

"Here?"

"No, Marie, it's-" With a final sigh of irritation, Stein caught the end of his sleeve between his fingers and wiped off the soap himself.

"There, it's gone," he said, dropping his hand. It was only afterward that he realized he could have just pointed to himself in order to mirror the spot she needed to clean off, but he supposed it really hadn't caused him all that much extra trouble in the long run.

For a few seconds, Marie looked a little bit surprised, but then she granted him with a wide smile. "Oh, thanks, Stein."

"Yeah," he mumbled, slowly turning the bolt in his head.

Marie went back to washing, which allowed him a moment of silence. Until she, seemingly out of nowhere, asked, "So, did you meet her?"

"Meet who?"

"Luna."

Stein was a little slow to respond as he recollected the beginning of their conversation a few moments ago. "Oh. I did."

"And?" she prompted.

The scientist leaned his back against the edge of the counter and folded his arms across his chest. "She's peculiar."

Marie laughed, although he couldn't find a sliver of humor in anything he had just said. "Okay, what makes her so peculiar?"

"She's not like the other meisters and weapons," he explained. "But she doesn't have the soul of a regular person, either. She has a fear of making eye contact, she looks like she was half starved for weeks, her hair color is unnatural-"

"Your hair color is also unnatural," she pointed out. Then, before he could continue, "So is Black Star's. And Crona's. And Kid's."

He glared at her, annoyed that she had interrupted his train of thought, and she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, please do continue."

"Fine," he murmured, closing his eyes. " _Minus_ the hair color… she was terrified of me upon first meeting, but she walked away afterward with a giddy smile her face. After she laughed at me while I had my back turned."

Marie tilted her head. "She laughed at you?" Then, a grin spread across her lips. "Wait, you didn't fall over in your chair, again, did you?"

Stein sweat-dropped. "I don't see what that has to do with it."

In the midst of laughter, Marie patted his arm. "Well, Stein, no one can take you seriously when you're being so clumsy!"

He stiffened. "Firstly, I'm not clumsy. Those were all unfortunate accidents due to lack of proper functioning of the chair. And secondly, I am always completely serious."

" _Firstly,_ if the chair is your problem, then chairs must really hate you," Marie snickered. "Secondly, the fact you're so serious all the time is what makes it funny! Call it what you want, but you really are a klutz, Stein. That's good, though! Because it helps you build better relationships with your students when you aren't so prickly and untouchable."

While Stein was busy contemplating her words, Marie went on, "Anyway… as for Luna, I'm sure it'll work itself out. She seems like a nice girl. I'll have to introduce myself to her, tomorrow."

As she stared at him with that cheerful smile on her face, he couldn't help noticing his own mouth twitching. _"She seems like a nice girl."_ She was even more trusting than Lord Death. It was almost disturbing how open she was, even with people she barely knew. Always kind. Always forgiving. Always looking for the good in everyone.

She baffled him.

He remained silent for a few moments, pulling off his glasses briefly to clean them on his lab coat. After he was fairly certain she wasn't going to continue to elicit conversation with him, he pushed himself away from the counter. But he stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder once again.

"Stein," Marie said quietly. "Do you really have more work to do, tonight?"

"I always have more work to do," he murmured. "Why?"

"How about you give me the rest of the papers you have to grade for the week, and I'll do them for you? I know it isn't much… but with making lesson plans, and going on missions, and doing your research, and now putting focus on Luna… you're only one man. I figured if you would let me take some of the work load for you-"

"That won't be necessary," he interrupted. "I'll be fine."

"I don't want you staying up too late, tonight," she protested. "Please let me help out so that you don't have as much to do. You have too much. I'll bet if Lord Death knew just how busy you were already he wouldn't have asked you to keep watch on Luna in the first place."

"I wasn't about to refuse an assignment just because I'm busy," he said. "I can handle it, Marie."

The woman walked around his side and faced him from the front, gazing up at him with the eye of a skeptic. "Rest, Stein," she said. "You need more sleep."

He assumed that her insistent demands came from a place of fear. A fear for his sanity. Because sleep deprivation could lead to hallucinations and weak-minded thoughts. And it wasn't that he lacked awareness, or that he had more confidence in his ability to stave off madness than he did. It was simply that there was always something to be done. It couldn't be avoided.

Still, her concerns held value. And there was probably more he could have been doing to take better care of himself, these days.

He scratched the back of his head as he peered down at his partner. "Okay. An hour. I'll go to sleep in an hour after I get some work done."

She made him wait a few seconds before letting out a huff of air and folding her arms across her chest. "One hour. I'll be coming to check on you, and if you aren't in bed by then, I'll drag you there if I have to. Understand?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, mother."

With a roll of her visible eye, she smacked his arm and started walking away. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he said, walking with her out of the room and parting with her at the short hallway intersection.

As he began to make the walk back to his office, he heard Marie's voice one last time: "Sweet dreams when you get there, Franken."

He stepped into his office and shut his door, finding himself smiling at her words.

 _Sweet dreams… if that's even possible._


	7. No Worries

**Okay, so... if you are one of the people who has been reading this, I suppose all I can say is I deeply, deeply apologize for my seven-month-long absence. That's horrible. I've never gone so long without updating before, but you know... life gets in the way. I think I'm going on three months now with my other fanfic, so I really need to get cracking on that too. Again, I'm sorry, but I just haven't been up to it. Especially with this one, I was just feeling stuck for a while and not motivated. Not to mention that this half of the year has been extremely stressful for me. However, I am back and I have the next chapter, which I believe is officially chapter 6. I wrote all of it during the last few days, and had a lot of fun. I'd forgotten how much I was enjoying this :)**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy. This chapter still has a lot of uncertainties in it, since no one knows who Luna is or where she came from. And there is a lot of interaction between Maka and Soul, which was quite fun to write. I have a lot in store for them, but I'm personally really looking forward to my plans for Stein, because he's such an interesting character!**

 **Happy reading and I'll try not to take seven months this time!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

No Worries

Luna hardly slept that night. For hours, the young girl lay awake on the sofa Maka and Soul had so kindly altered into a bed for her while she waited impatiently for her wandering thoughts to disappear. She dared not toss and turn, for worry that Blair, who was curled up as a cat on the back of the sofa, would notice. But she didn't know what else to do; she had tried counting and breathing exercises, thinking happy thoughts—but nothing was working.

Her mind continued to wander back to that dark alley on the street and her bloody vision. Could it really have been her own memory? Or was it possibly just a strange case of déjà vu?

No—there was no way she was experiencing meaningless déjà vu. She didn't even know who she was. She couldn't afford to believe that anything she saw in her mind wasn't real.

The bigger question was, should she talk to someone about it? The people of the academy were helping her, after all. Perhaps if she expressed her thoughts and feelings in words, it would trigger more memories and help her find some answers. But who did she trust?

If she told these people she was having visions of bloody kishin in dark alleys, they might think she was insane. Or worse, somehow dangerous. She didn't fear getting into trouble for potentially killing a kishin. Disposing of those creatures was more encouraged than anything in this city. What frightened her was what she _felt_ … malice—pleasure—gluttony… as if it was far more than what it seemed on the surface. A killing for the sake of the city. That would be anyone's rational guess. But she wasn't so certain of what had happened that night.

Which was why she couldn't tell anyone until she knew for sure. Not Soul and Maka, not Lord Death, not her strange new professor. After all, it was impossible to explain yourself to someone if you didn't even know, yourself.

Aching internally from the stress, Luna moved and finally decided to shift quietly off the sofa. She kept at a slow pace, glancing at Blair periodically and wincing every time the sheet rustled or the furniture squeaked. She thought she was safe when her bare feet touched the floor, but sure enough she heard the cat let out a tiny groan.

"Heyyy…" Blaire mumbled, "Luna…? What—you okay?"

Luna turned around and smiled sheepishly. "Uh—bathroom. I'll be back."

Still in a groggy daze, Blair accepted her answer easily and simply yawned before laying her head back down.

Once free of any potential scrutiny, Luna took the short walk to the bathroom, shut the door and locked it. Despite the promise of several moments of blinding misery, Luna flipped on the light for some extra security. Then, she sat down on the toilet seat cover and let out a sigh.

Well, it may not have been the most comfortable position, but it was better than the sofa. And yet, while she sat in near unnerving silence, a sort of loneliness overtook her. She was too afraid to close her eyes; she wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was all okay. That she wasn't insane—that she would be safe. She wanted—

 _A mother._

But the question was—did she even have one?

* * *

"Luna! Hey! What's going on in there? Luna?"

She woke to the sound of knocking and jiggling on the bathroom doorknob. Maka's muffled voice came through, pulling her out of her sleepy daze. The next thing she noticed was the horrible kink in her neck, which she rubbed rhythmically with her fingers while Maka continued calling her name.

" _Luna!_ Are you okay, or what? Come on! If you don't open up I'm breaking down this door."

The white-haired girl jolted at the loud pounding outside. Suddenly coming to her senses, she frantically hopped to her feet.

"Geez, Maka, it's too early for your yelling," she heard in a deeper, quieter tone. "What the hell is your problem?"

Before Maka had a chance to answer, Luna unlocked the door and threw it open, to find Maka staring at her with wide, bewildered eyes, while Soul just looked bored as usual. Although part of it may have been grogginess from sleep. All at once, Luna took in her surroundings, and also happened to notice the light filling the room.

 _It's already morning?_

"Uh… hey…" she said in a mousy voice, trying to smile but failing miserably.

"Hey," Maka said. "Are you okay? I'm sorry about that—Blair told me you went to the bathroom sometime in the middle of the night and never came out. And then you weren't answering the door so…" She looked almost sheepish, as if slightly embarrassed by her behavior.

There was a short pause, and then Luna opened her mouth to speak. "Uh—no, um… I'm fine… I was just—"

"D'you fall asleep while taking a leak or something?" Soul deadpanned, scratching behind his ear.

Luna's cheeks immediately turned red and she cast her eyes down. "Something—like that, I guess."

Maka cocked her head. "Luna…?"

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm fine, really. I just had a hard time sleeping, so… I decided to get up and move around… and I fell asleep. Sorry…"

"Hey, it's okay!" Maka told her gently, smiling. "No need to apologize so much! I was just a little worried is all. It's done now. So why don't we just go have breakfast? How does that sound?"

Luna spared a glance at Maka's sweet expression and knew she was trying to cheer her up and diffuse the situation. It probably wasn't even a big deal to them. They had just been worried because she wasn't answering the door. But then she had to get embarrassed and shut down over it. In that very moment she realized she had no idea how to handle people or stressful situations. God, why couldn't she be outgoing and confident like Maka?

In response to Maka's cheery voice, Luna did the only thing she could think to do and nodded in agreement.

The three teens headed the kitchen with Maka in the lead and Soul at the rear, leaving Luna stuck in the middle, still wishing that she had the power to fly off or disappear into thin air. And upon entering the room she witnessed a sight that she would have gladly done without for the rest of her life.

It was Blair. In human form. Completely naked. Exposed private areas and all.

Maka nearly shrieked, and Luna quickly put her hand in front of her face in horror. "Oh, hey, you guys," Blair said casually, having just guzzled down a glass of milk. "Oh, Luna. You're finally out of the bathroom. And here I thought I spent too much time in there. So, is it okay if I go take my bath now?"

"I thought I _told_ you to quit walking around the house naked!" Maka snapped. "I don't _have_ to let you live here, you know. Look, you've scarred Luna, already."

"Aw, but Soul always seems to like it," Blair pouted, prompting Luna to turn her head toward Soul. She subsequently gasped in horror to find him twitching in a tangled heap on the floor, his nose gushing blood.

Maka, clearly disgusted, stalked over to Blair and grabbed the glass out of her hand. "Go take your bath." As she went to go wash the glass, the cat shrugged as if she had no idea why Maka was so upset, and then smiled at Luna.

"Well, good luck in school today if I don't see you!" she said light-heartedly before leaving the room.

Once she was gone, Luna slowly turned her attention back to Soul, who looked a little bit like a fresh corpse at this point. "Hey, Maka?" she asked.

"What?" Maka replied, sounding less miffed as she dried off Blair's milk glass.

"Is he… dead or something?"

"Brain-dead, yes," she said, back in her normal happy tone, already. "But that's nothing unusual. Just leave him. Why don't you help me make breakfast?"

Luna smiled. "Oh—sure. I know how to cook, a little."

Maka giggled in response. "Well, then maybe we should put that to the test. Let's do it!"

And so the girls went to it and made rice and fried up some eggs on the stove. And oddly enough, Luna had so much fun with it that she all but completely forgot about her embarrassment and was in a considerably better mood when she sat down at the table. Maka followed soon after, first grabbing them each a glass of juice from the refrigerator. Then, as she sat down, she took a single bite of her egg.

"Mm," she said. "Just right. So you are a natural chef, after all!"

Luna smiled bashfully. "Guess it's kinda nice to know I'm good at something."

"I'm sure you're amazing at a lot of things," she replied. "We just have to find out what they are one step at a time. No worries!"

It occurred to Luna that Maka used that phrase quite often since they had met: _No worries._ She supposed it was a pleasant outlook to have, but she wasn't sure just how Maka managed to keep that sort of attitude so easily. With all the worrying she had done lately, herself, she was starting to feel envious.

"Ugh… so, what's for breakfast?"

Finally, Soul had come to and seemed interested in what was on the table. However, Maka quickly shot him a dirty glare. "We didn't make _you_ any."

"What?" His voice rose just a little in pitch. "Why not?"

"Why would we when all you did was lay on the floor drooling the whole time over your stupid perverted fantasies?"

He scoffed, but sounded a little uncomfortable. "You know I can't help it—"

"Right," she cut him off. " _You can't help it._ Tch. Men are such disgusting pigs."

"Excuse me!" Soul reached across the table and grabbed her fork, then quickly stabbed one of her eggs and stuffed it in his mouth before she had the chance to stop him. "I am not a pig," he said with a mouthful of egg.

"Well, you're sure acting like one," she shot back, snatching the fork away from him. "Now I can't even use this fork because your slobber's all over it."

"Yeah, very mature," he said. "We've been living together for years and you still complain about stuff like that. How in the world can someone be so thickheaded and brainless at the same time?"

"Brainless? Then what does that make you, a genius? See, that's your problem—you always think you know everything… think your _sooo_ cool. Well, sorry, but your attitude just makes you look like a jackass!"

"Well, if I'm a jackass, then you must be some kind of screeching banshee, because all you ever do is whine and complain!"

"Because all you ever do is try to piss me off!"

"Yes, Maka, because it's obviously my life's mission to piss you off—"

"Could've fooled me 100 percent—"

"Because you never listen to me, you just—"

" _I just what?!_ "

" _You just do this!_ "

By now, the two of them were in each other's faces, both with a hand gripping the other's collar across the table like they were ready for a brawl. And poor Luna had sunk about as low in her chair as she could get, eyes bulging and focused on the floor at the sound of their yelling. It didn't get much more awkward than being in the middle of an argument. And Luna was definitely in the middle. Most literally.

The fighting, however, came to an abrupt stop when a loud thumping sounded from somewhere in the apartment. "Would you two _shut up_ already?!" Blair's voice screamed another room, causing both Maka and Soul to go completely still. There was a long moment of pause, and rather awkward silence as the partners seemed to reflect on the last moment of their lives. Then, Soul stumbled backward as Maka not so gently pushed him away with a distasteful look.

Her expression turned apologetic on Luna, who still had her lips pressed together sitting as far away from them in her chair as possible. "Oh, Luna, I'm really sorry. Guess we kinda got carried away."

"Yeah, look who's scarring the poor girl now?" Soul added in the midst of rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Soul, that's enough," Maka snapped. Then, with an oddly defeated-looking expression that surprised Luna, she sat down in her chair. "Let's just finish breakfast and get going."

And so, they finished eating and proceeded to get ready for school. The rest of the morning was fairly quiet and there were no more arguments, but the tension had not entirely faded. What's more was that, although Maka continued to always have a sincere smile for her, Luna had decided that she was definitely not in as cheerful of a mood as she had appeared to be while they were making breakfast. It made her wonder if this was normal for those two, or if there really was some kind of serious problem between them that she just hadn't noticed before now.

The three of them were mostly silent during the walk to school, but Luna's brain was all over the place. At the moment she was a little worried about setting them off since Maka and Soul still appeared irritated over their fight, but she had an important question she wanted to ask. She was just too much of a coward to open up her mouth and do it.

 _Come on, girl… be confident. Just do it._

She cleared her throat and tightened her grip on her bag. "Hey—Maka?"

Maka glanced at her with alertness. "Hm? What is it?"

"You two have been doing this type of thing—I mean, collecting kishin souls—for a while now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so… why?"

Luna bit her lip nervously. "I was thinking… or wondering, that is… if you might teach me a little bit. About soul resonance and all that."

Maka looked surprised; even Soul now regarded her with interest. "What's the rush?" he asked.

"Yeah," Maka agreed, "You still haven't been feeling well. You shouldn't push yourself too hard just yet."

"I was thinking maybe figuring out what I know and if I might be a meister—would help me remember things more quickly," Luna replied. "I just want to know who I am… and I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

"Well, if that's the case you probably don't want us teaching you anything," Soul told her, locking his fingers behind his head. "You'd be better off asking a professor. Like Stein."

Luna's already pale face drained completely of color.

 _Impossible._

There was no way she could ever ask anything of that man. Granted, she wasn't as terrified of him as she was when they first met, but she didn't trust him. And she didn't want to have to spend more time alone in his presence.

Both of them seemed to notice her distress, and Soul asked, "Don't tell me you're still afraid of Professor Cuckoo Head."

"The only reason is because we aren't masters," Maka said gently. "Sure, it's been several years but we're still learning all the time. That's why I think you're probably better off with someone who knows everything about being a meister—or at least, more than we do. Anyway, you said yourself that Stein is there to look out for you, right? So why don't you ask him?"

Luna said nothing, but just shook her head in disagreement.

"Oh, Luna…" Maka sighed. "You know, he's really not that bad. Honest."

"I'm sure he's not," Luna muttered. "But I still can't ask him…"

At this point, Luna had begun to wish that she simply hadn't asked anything to begin with, and luckily for her neither Soul nor Maka pushed her on the subject, anymore. The first class with Professor Stein went by at an agonizingly slow rate, and even as she told herself she'd never have the nerve to approach him and ask for help, she found herself watching him and wondering. If she really wanted to find out the truth about her life, she couldn't exactly afford to be so timid. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? That he would say no? When she thought about it rationally, it seemed like it would be worth a shot.

But when the bell rang, signaling the class end, Luna did not approach him. She walked toward the door instead.

It was Maka who then came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. "Okay, come on," she said, turning Luna around.

"Hey!" the girl gasped in a sudden panic, pushing back against Maka's hands to no avail. "What are you doing?"

"If you won't do it yourself, I'll ask him for you," she said confidently. "But that doesn't mean I'm letting you run off, either."

As the words sank in, Luna struggled even harder against Maka's grasp, her own fright making it impossible to think clearly enough to escape. "No, no, no, Maka—stop, I don't want to—please—!"

But even she realized it was too late to get away once Professor Stein noticed them. Seeming unfazed by the obvious terror on Luna's face while Maka held her arms, he asked, "And what can I do for you two?"

Maka smiled. "Luna and I have a question for you. We were wondering if you wouldn't mind giving Luna here some extra lessons on soul resonance and techniques."

The pale-faced girl trembled slightly and fought not to let any tears spill from her eyes in her embarrassment. Even if she didn't have the guts to ask herself, letting someone else do it for her was even worse.

Professor Stein leaned back and twirled around a few times in his chair while absently turning the screw in his head. "Already, huh?" he asked, still sounding barely interested. "It's only been a few days."

"Well, Luna certainly doesn't want to waste any time! And she feels she's ready try to tap into whatever skills she might have."

He blinked. "Is that so…" His flickered toward her. "You're ready to get started?"

"Um…" she hesitated. No point in going back, now. "Yes. I was hoping doing this would— maybe trigger something. So I would appreciate your help."

The professor took a short pause, causing Luna some discomfort with his all-too-serious gaze, but then lightly tossed up the hand he had sitting on his desk. "Fine. If you think you can handle it, come back to this room tomorrow directly after classes. We'll go from there. Don't be late." Then, quite randomly, he grabbed the miniature clock off the edge of his desk and started tinkering at the back with a screwdriver.

Luna was sure the clock had been working just fine and wondered what reason he could have possibly had to open the back, but she didn't dare ask. "Wouldn't dream of it, sir," she replied simply.

"Mm," Professor Stein said, without glancing up. "Well, if that's all I guess you and your little spokesperson can get going now. Oh, and Maka… I'd like it if you and Soul talked it over and came to me about scheduling an appointment for you, as well. I'd like to confirm that you've been practicing what I taught you."

Maka patted Luna's shoulder. "Oh, sure thing, Professor Stein. Of course we've been practicing—you don't have a thing to worry about."

"We'll see about that later this week when I test you."

"Oh come on, Professor, have a little faith in us!"

"Faith is not the issue. It's basic skepticism. You and Soul both naturally suffer from arrogance and incompatibility. Just because you saved the world once doesn't give you leeway to be complacent."

Maka huffed, as if offended. "I know that, geez! No need to be so stark about it. Come on, Luna, let's go. See you tomorrow, Professor Stein."

Still fixated on the tiny clock, he didn't bother to answer as Maka steered Luna out of the room, her lower lip protruding from her face as she fumed over Professor Stein's cold behavior. Truthfully, Luna was just amazed that Maka was able to talk to him with such familiarity and boldness.

* * *

Maka frowned more deeply when she noticed Soul leaning against the wall outside Stein's classroom. He had waited for her, as usual. And somehow, that made her even more irritated, considering she still wanted to be pissed at him for this morning. She was sick of him losing his marbles every time he saw Blair naked, as if it was that big of a deal. What did he find so attractive about her, anyway? As selfish and petty as she knew it was, she couldn't help the anger that bubbled in her chest every time he looked at someone else that way. There was always that little voice in the back of her mind that warned her he might leave her for someone else, like her Dad did to Mom.

But those rare times when he showed that he was actually a decent human being made it very difficult to hold her ground and remember what a pain he could be.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked nonchalantly as they approached him.

Luna tucked a strand of white hair behind her hair, her movements a little skittish and awkward. God, this girl was adorable.

"Well…" she said softly, "I guess I'm meeting with him tomorrow…"

"Hey, great," he replied. "I knew he'd be cool with it."

She shook her head. "I'm still not sure I can do it. I mean, I really appreciate that you wanted to help and all, but—"

"Hey, you want to get your memories back, don't you?" Maka asked. "Come on, you can handle it. And once you get to know Stein a little better, I'm sure you'll be wondering why you were ever worried in the first place!"

"Maybe…" she said, still not sounding convinced.

"I _promise_ you, it will be fine," Maka said, determined to reassure her new friend. "And if Stein says anything mean to you, you just tell me and I'll give him a piece of this!" She held up her fist with a grin.

In response, Luna gave one of those smiles that so far had warmed Maka's heart several times already. "Thanks… that makes me feel a lot better, actually."

"Awesome," Maka said with a big grin and a thumbs-up.

Then, Luna pointed her finger down the hall. "I, uh—think I'm gonna run to the restroom before class."

"Okay. We'll wait."

"Oh no, please, don't wait… I can find my way this time. I'll be along in a minute."

Mostly convinced by Luna's insistence, Maka nodded in agreement. "Okay, then. We'll see you in class."

"Try not to fall asleep," Soul added with a smirk, earning a glare from Maka.

But Luna seemed to handle herself better than she did this morning, shooting Soul a look and murmuring, "We're not going to speak of that anymore," before running down the hall.

As he laughed, Maka shook her head. "Soul, you're a jerk."

"She knew I was joking," he retorted, pushing off the wall and starting toward the next class. "What's up with you and being so uptight about her?"

"She's sensitive!" Maka exclaimed. "Just this morning she was mortified. I'm not even sure what happened, but… you notice something's been bothering her since yesterday?"

"Yeah… while we were out she saw something. Wasn't that the same place—"

"We found those empty bodies," Maka finished in a more hushed tone. "Originally I thought it had to be a coincidence but… that's why I decided to push her toward Stein. I think she's right—the sooner we find out the truth, the better."

"Makes sense," he said with a nod.

"I still can't imagine it, though," she whispered. "Her being dangerous. She's just so innocent."

"You know that's always been one of your problems, Maka. You're too trusting."

"I don't like to assume the worst about people! What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," he said. "I think it's one of the coolest things about you. You could just stand for some balance, that's all."

She found herself smiling whenever he gave her compliments, even if they were only technically half-compliments.

"Anyway, I think you're worrying too much about it," he continued. "There's probably a rational explanation. Luna is kinda growing on me, you know, so I want to help her out, too."

"Glad to hear we agree," Maka said.

The corners of Soul's lips turned up. "Hmph. Me too. For once."


	8. Trapped in the Dark

**Hello, everyone. It's certainly been a while - again. Sorry about the wait. I don't really have a good excuse for it. The summer passed me by and then I got into the fall semester of school... and here I am, finally, with a new chapter of The Witch's Madness! If anyone is even still interested in reading it, lol. Regrettably, this chapter is not very long. But I enjoyed writing it a lot. I don't know if anyone remembers since it was so long ago, but ago two chapters ago I introduced two original characters, Rianni and Nishi. Well, they return in this chapter, with a lot more going on than in their first appearance. I also got a chance to mess with a new villain, so that was kind of fun, hehe.**

 **Anyway, I'm thinking the next chapter will probably focus on Luna's first training session with Stein. So that should be interesting XD**

 **So, thanks for favoriting, following, a reviewing and whatnot, and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

Trapped in the Dark

Rianni reverted to her human form and dropped gracefully onto her feet, ignoring the bite of the frozen ground below her. By now, she'd grown almost accustomed to the feeling of the cold. Days had passed and yet the sun would not rise, and the snow would not stop. She couldn't even hear the waves crashing against the ocean shore—it was frozen solid. And her magic was not strong enough to thaw it all.

Tightening her coat around her body, Rianni ran silently through the trees, the rest of the way to her fallen dwelling—where she and her daughter lived until just recently. Her heart broke when she saw the debris, knowing that she may never have the power to fix the damage done. Pieces of wood and stone and furniture lay strewn about across the property, and out in the field as well. When she stepped forward she winced at the dull pain of a shard of glass cutting into her heel. She lifted her foot and blood dripped from the wound, seeping into the snow and turning it red beneath her. With a single motion she reached down to touch the injury, taking a few seconds to use her magic to heal it.

"Rubbish," she mumbled under her breath, putting down her foot and moving ahead while this time taking care not to step on anything.

All she had to do was find something in this place, anything that belonged to her daughter. A toy, a trinket, an article of clothing was all it would take. The danger was all too real and became more so the longer she stayed, but in her mind, it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting her hands on what she needed. Then she would at least have a chance of finding Luna before it was too late.

"Please don't notice, please don't notice, please don't notice," she whispered, moving some pieces of what she guessed used to be the wall in her kitchen out of the way. While she dug through the aftermath, she came across a few things that belonged to her like a dress torn into several shreds and the pot she used to mix potions in. But she had much more trouble finding something that belonged to her daughter (obviously). Because why wouldn't she be able to find _everything_ in her house except for what she actually needed?

Luckily, she eventually came across an old book. One of Luna's all-time favorites, _The Willow Maid_. Rianni brushed the cover off, which was both charred and wet from the fire and then from the snow. But as she flipped through it, most of the pages were still intact and she reasoned that it would likely suffice for her purposes. Letting out a sigh, she tucked the book into her coat for safe keeping and began tip-toeing out of the wreckage. It was best to make her escape as quickly as possible and go find Nishi, who she was beginning to feel guilty for abandoning.

But her luck didn't hold out this time.

"I can't decide if you're really that desperate, or just really _that_ stupid," a voice said, causing Rianni to stop in her tracks.

Rianni's stomach clenched as she half turned toward the source of the voice, where she saw the woman she feared most standing not far away. The wind had tousled her shoulder-length red hair, but she wore no coat—only a dark blue sleeveless top, tight trousers, and sandals. Her dark eyes bore into Rianni's, a devilish smile playing on her lips and showing her pointed teeth.

"Narine," Rianni said simply.

"You know, I'll admit," the one called Narine continued, crossing her arms, "You did a pretty good job keeping yourself hidden up until now. It was hard to track you down while you were moving around all over the place. But coming back here—did you honestly think I wouldn't catch you?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief and sinister intentions, despite the light-hearted tone in her voice.

"I didn't have a choice," Rianni said quietly.

Narine chuckled and stuffed her hands, which were almost shaped like claws, into her pockets. Then, her expression became almost wistful. "Right. Hm. I wonder. Why is that? Tell me, little sis, what is it that you have hidden in your coat, there?"

Rianni's grip tightened on her coat as she pulled the piece of clothing closer to her body, along with the book tucked inside. "I have nothing hidden in my coat."

The tiny chuckle in Narine's throat turned into whole-hearted laughter. "Oh—please! No need for lies. You've always been a terrible liar. Tell me. What did you take?"

Rianni stayed silent.

"Rianni," Narine said slowly, as if leading up to scolding a child for bad behavior. "Don't test my patience. You've already kept me waiting far too long out here in the cold. If you don't tell me, I'll just have to start making guesses. And you know I tend to be a very good guesser."

"Go ahead," Rianni challenged, knowing that there was little point in trying to convince Narine otherwise.

Narine raised her eyebrows, but then cocked her head and began shuffling her feet from side to side. "All right, then. If you say so. Well—I don't know. I mean—it couldn't possibly be that you've made the terrible mistake of losing track of that little brat of yours…?"

Once again, Rianni kept her mouth shut. She refrained from moving an inch, even when Narine appeared before her in an instant, only inches away. Her smile was bigger than before, pointed teeth threatening enough to intimidate a normal person. "So it's true! You have _no idea_ where she is, do you? Ha! And here I thought if I could just find you, I'd be able to track her down and rip her heart out like I should have done before."

"If you touch her, I will _end_ you," Rianni hissed, her composure slipping.

"Aw, cute," Narine said. "But you can't do that and you know it as well as I do. After all, you couldn't do it when I killed your husband, could you?"

At that comment, Rianni rubbed her fingers together to create some friction and ignited a spark of electricity. "Bitch," she growled, swiping her hand in her sister's direction, who was much faster and able to move to safety in plenty of time.

Laughing again, Narine said, "Oh, I really do love to see you worked up, little sis! But I'm afraid we don't have time for that. You're Luna's mother—that means only your blood is strong enough to do the location spell. So how about you do that? Then I can kill you… and then move on to the brat, wherever she is."

"I'll do no such thing," Rianni replied, standing her ground. "In fact, I'm relieved to hear that you weren't able to find her on your own. This means I still have a chance to find her first, and there is nothing you could say or do that would force me to help _you_ reach her."

Narine pouted. "Really? Nothing?"

It was then that another voice sounded in the distance, sending shivers of panic down Rianni's spine: "My Lady!"

Both Rianni and Narine turned their attention to the trees, from which and cold and tired-looking Nishi emerged, running to meet Rianni after having been left behind miles away.

"No, you fool," Rianni whispered, and then shouted, "Nishi, get out of here!" In response, the little fox came to a halt, glancing up toward her Lady in confusion, and then realization—and briefly, panic. Rianni dared to let her eyes flicker toward Narine, who was still smiling. And when she saw Narine move, she shot forward. She planted her foot into the ground, shoving a load of energy underneath her, which allowed her to spring ahead at a superhuman pace. At the same time Narine lifted her hand and murmured a spell, beckoning the fox to her. But Rianni was barely quick enough, and managed to pull Nishi out of danger.

"You little fool," Rianni whispered again while on her knees, tucking the exhausted and frightened Nishi into her coat. Turning to glare at Narine, Rianni stood on her feet, which were growing numb from the cold ground.

Narine smirked. "How sweet. But there's no way you can protect both your little familiar and yourself from me at the same time. So if you want the fox to live, I'd suggest doing the location spell like I so nicely asked the first time."

"Never," Rianni said defiantly, murmuring a quick spell before splaying out her hand and blasting at Narine with explosive magic. Of course, Narine moved out of the way, and Rianni tried again. And again.

"Keep wearing yourself out," Narine called. "I have all night!"

"Then quit dodging and fight!" Rianni shouted angrily.

"You want me to fight?" Narine asked, her voice high-pitched and impatient. "You got it!" And then Narine came to a halt mid-step, and she became engulfed in a fiery haze, which grew and grew before Rianni's eyes. She took several steps back, clutching Nishi in her arms. "This what you were looking for, _sweetie_?" Narine shouted, her voice distorted by the transformation. "If you won't do the spell for me, I guess I'll just have to spill all your blood and do it myself! Not that I mind."

The little fox whimpered and Rianni thought she heard her say something, but she couldn't understand it over the sound of Narine's wings. She took the form of a gigantic bird, with fifty-foot long wings that nearly blew Rianni off her feet. Narine lurched forward and snapped at the weaker witch and her familiar, but Rianni managed to throw herself to the side.

In the midst of trying to get back on her feet, she threw out her hand and pointed, channeling electricity through her body which came out the tips of her fingers. It struck her adversary's long, sharp beak, and Narine flinched back, letting out a screech that made the ground tremble.

Even as Rianni attempted in a panic to block and evade her sister's swift attacks, she knew already that she was fighting a losing battle. She could not win, outmatched in both size and in power. Not to mention with a dependent in her arms.

And so, when Narine pulled back, signaling that she was likely about to use her magic to spit toxic acid at them, Rianni threw her hand up and warped them away. She couldn't warp very far in this zone, which was controlled by Narine, but she managed to warp them into the trees, where she and Nishi could navigate unseen.

She took off running through the forest, wishing that she could turn into her owl form. Wings allowed her to move faster when necessary, but not when she had Nishi to protect. She could only continue to run.

"Hey, that's not fair!" she heard Narine's booming voice call from somewhere in the distance behind her. "You were the one who wanted to fight, and now you're running like a coward? I thought you had more class than that, Rianni!"

She tried warping again while on the move, and reappeared a few yards farther ahead than she was previously. And she did this again a few more times, until she became worried that she would tire herself out too much.

"If we can get as far as the clearing on the east side, I'll help you warp the rest of the way out," Nishi said, crawling slowly out of Rianni's coat and up onto her shoulder. Rianni didn't slow her pace, but Nishi was skilled enough to keep her balance all the same.

"We have to make it," Rianni whispered through heavy breaths, taking care not to trip over any branches or fallen leaves. From behind her she could still hear Narine's screeching, and her pulse raced more quickly still, as she heard the sound of trees collapsing and being ripped from their roots. Narine would tear down the entire forest to find them.

"She's gaining on us," Nishi said.

"No need to state the obvious," Rianni hissed through her teeth. Then, getting ready to push a boost under her feet, she said, "Hold on."

Nishi clutched her and she shot forward, then veered right to avoid hitting a tree. At one point she felt Nishi lose her balance. But luckily she righted herself quickly. If she hadn't, Rianni wasn't so sure she'd be able to find her again without getting them both killed.

Narine's voice echoed behind them. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Trees snapped and the wind roared, and Rianni could feel her lungs burning from the adrenaline.

"We're almost there!" Nishi said as they passed a familiar spot. Of course, the trees in that particular area were immediately after mowed down by their enemy. Rianni stumbled from the impact, but kept going. "My Lady, she's—"

"There you are!" Narine cried, and she brought her head down, ready to lop off their newly exposed heads with her beak.

Rianni grabbed Nishi to hold her steady and lunged forward, into the clearing just ahead. " _Nishi—warp, now!_ " she cried, simultaneously casting one last warp spell with her own magic.

And at once, all was quiet.

* * *

Luna clutched her head and bolted up into a sitting position, wrenched out of her horrific dream world. It took her a few seconds for her to remember where she was—to remember that she was safe on the couch at Soul and Maka's house. The room was dark, and somewhere nearby there was a clock ticking. But she couldn't check it to see what time it was.

Tentatively, the young girl looked down at her hands, both of which trembled slightly against her wishes. She clasped both hands together and held them against her chest, trying to establish an even breathing pattern. But when she closed her eyes, she saw more frightening images.

She snapped them open again, flashes still appearing vaguely behind her eyes. Images of fire—blood—death. She saw herself, covered in blood, laughing as if she somehow enjoyed it. Enjoyed the thrill of murdering the innocent.

Luna jolted again when she heard a noise, which turned out to be only rustling around in the kitchen. Hesitantly, she turned in the direction of the sound, and a few seconds later she saw a familiar figure walking through the room, a slouch in his step due to grogginess. At first, he looked as if he would just walk past without a word, but then he stopped to do a double-take.

"Hey…" It was Soul. "What are you doing? Sorry, did I wake you up or somethin'?" His voice was hoarse and his words were slurred. He must have just come down to get a drink.

Luna's tongue felt heavy when she opened her mouth, but after a few seconds she managed to speak. "No, you didn't…"

"Oh," Soul said. "You—okay?" He sounded a little more curious now.

But Luna could do nothing but nod and reply with a weak, "Yes."

Perhaps it was his sleepy haze, but Soul didn't remotely seem to notice how broken and frightened her voice sounded, and then only bid her goodnight before heading back up to his room. And it took every ounce of strength Luna had not to rush over to him and beg him to stay.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd been afraid of the dark, but in that moment she wasn't sure she could last the rest of the night on her own.


End file.
